Ukraine wants to introduce liability for inadequate assistance to veterans
The Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine has prepared legislative changes that provide for administrative liability for violations of mandatory standards for veteran support. The agency wants to establish support for defenders as a duty of local authorities and obtain powers to control the work of responsible specialists.
This was reported by the Ministry of Veterans Affairs following a meeting of the Coordination Staff for the implementation of state veteran policy.
Deputy Minister Yuliia Kirillova explained that currently the ministry finances the activities of veteran support specialists, provides methodological recommendations, but does not have sufficient influence on their job descriptions, standards, and work procedures.
The ministry proposes amending legislation on local self-government and the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. Local authorities should receive delegated powers to ensure support for veterans and their family members. At the same time, the state will continue to fund the relevant specialists.
It is also planned to establish unified mandatory service standards. If these are not followed, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs will be able to apply response mechanisms provided by law and initiate bringing responsible persons to administrative liability. Currently, these are only prepared proposals, not effective norms.
According to the ministry, 2,864 specialists for support of veterans and demobilized persons work in Ukraine. Their services cover 98.5% of territorial communities. However, the system faces staffing problems: employee turnover is about 26%.
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets also stated that officials are not sufficiently held accountable for violating veterans' rights. In an interview with Radio NV, he noted that even after the intervention of the Ombudsman's Office, officials who have not fulfilled their duties often remain unpunished.
According to Lubinets, in approximately 90% of cases, internal service checks initiated after violations are detected end with conclusions that no unlawful actions by employees occurred. The Ombudsman believes that without personal accountability of officials, restoration of violated rights will not lead to systemic changes.
The scale of the problem is reflected in the number of appeals to the Ombudsman's Office. In the first eight months of 2026, more than 1,900 appeals were received from veterans (men and women), compared to 2,067 for all of 2025. Most often, people complain about difficulties in receiving social benefits, paperwork, medical care, and rehabilitation.
Lubinets cited cases where veterans could not obtain necessary certificates for months, as a result of which they lost the opportunity to receive state-provided assistance. In his opinion, one of the main reasons is the lack of proper interaction between state institutions and registries.
The Ombudsman also emphasized that problems in veteran policy negatively affect mobilization. According to his assessment, citizens who see inadequate treatment by the state of people after returning from military service may lose motivation to join the Defense Forces.
Another area of change should be updating legislation on social protection of veterans. Lubinets reminded that the basic law was adopted back in October 1993. Despite numerous amendments, in his opinion, the approach laid down in it no longer meets the modern needs of veterans.
The Ministry of Veterans Affairs is working on systemic updating of legislation and creating a unified support model that will cover the transition from military service to civilian life, processing of payments, treatment, rehabilitation, and employment. Some of the planned changes will require the support of the Verkhovna Rada.
Based on materials: Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, Radio NV
