15 million for the death of a soldier: why relatives have to fight for payments in courts

13 August 18:12

ANALYSIS FROM

Not all relatives of deceased soldiers can receive the 15 million hryvnia payment without problems and bureaucratic red tape, as evidenced by numerous court decisions and rulings. Even in the case of deaths in the combat zone or in a hospital after being wounded, the Ministry of Defense has to be convinced that the death of a soldier was caused by combat operations, especially when it comes to heart attacks or exacerbation of chronic diseases.

Media [Kommersant] media outlet found out what the families of the deceased face when trying to get their due payments.

In the Lviv region, the widow of a fallen soldier filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Defense for a one-time payment of UAH 15 million. The Defense Ministry Commission refused because, according to the expert opinion, the sergeant died of an ischemic heart attack, not a wound. Therefore, it was believed that the death was due to illness.

The court found that in August 2023, while delivering ammunition to combat positions, the sergeant felt a deterioration in his health, was taken to a mobile hospital, and then to the regional hospital, where he died. The court found that his death was related to the performance of duties in defense of the homeland and ordered him to pay UAH 15 million.

Another widow filed a lawsuit with the Lviv District Administrative Court demanding UAH 15 million. The Ministry of Defense noted that this amount is provided only in cases of death from wounding, trauma, contusion or mutilation. Since the man died of a heart disease, they provided only UAH 671 thousand in aid.

However, the court, taking into account the circumstances and the law, ruled in favor of the widow and ordered the MoD to pay her the full amount of UAH 15 million.

In Zakarpattia region, the grandmother of a deceased serviceman, who had been his sole caretaker since 2018, also received a refusal from the MoD. They demanded confirmation that she was dependent on her grandson. The Commission recognized that the grandmother was not among the persons entitled to assistance.

The court ruled otherwise: it ordered her to correct the inaccuracies in her records and grant her a one-time financial assistance.

It is not only the relatives of ordinary soldiers who are denied 15 million. The family of the deceased lieutenant colonel, a former commander of a motorized infantry battalion, was also forced to go to court. The Ministry of Defense noted that according to medical documents, the officer’s death was due to illness, not combat wounds.

The lieutenant colonel was killed on November 29, 2023, during a battle near the village of Rozdolivka, Bakhmut district, after being hit by an FPV drone. He suffered a mine-blast injury and an acubarotrauma, but refused hospitalization and continued to lead the battle.

Only after eyewitnesses confirmed his participation in the battle and the fact of his injury did the court order the Ministry of Defense to pay the family the full amount of the allowance due.

He fought, he died, and they got nothing: relatives of the deceased have to seek justice in the courts

Today, there are many such cases where relatives seek payments from the Ministry of Defense that are due to them. In such cases, as emphasized in an exclusive commentary [Kommersant] lawyer Yuriy Ayvazyan emphasizes in an exclusive interview, everything depends on the internal investigation conducted by the unit commander. He is obliged to interview all the witnesses, check the circumstances that preceded the death, and then submit the internal investigation to the military medical commission (MMC). It is the MEC that decides whether there is a causal link between the injury and death in connection with the defense of the homeland or not. There is also the opinion of a forensic expert who determines the cause of death, and it also matters when making a decision on payments.

These are complicated stories. And it should also be remembered that the interests of those who determine whether there is a connection between death and the defense of the homeland, which is the only basis for receiving 15 million hryvnias, do not coincide with the interests of those who claim the 15 million – the relatives of the deceased. Very often, those who do not want to pay the money resort to refusals based on arguments that are far from those provided for by law,” emphasizes Yuri Aivazyan.

There are several ways to resolve these issues, the lawyer suggests:

appeal to the military ombudsman;

appealing the actions or inaction of the unit commander to the General Staff or the Ministry of Defense;

filing a lawsuit in court, which will make a decision after examining all the circumstances.

In any case, I would advise relatives to contact lawyers. Because in most cases, these are very complicated cases, especially where the death is not directly related to hostilities. Or when a certain amount of time has passed since the death. Whatever one may say, delays in payments, especially those related to identification or family ties, are rooted in budgetary reasons, in our weak economy. If the DNA testing is delayed, you should also complain. Although nowhere in the law is it specified how long it takes to conduct a DNA test, and it happens that people wait for a very long time – up to a year or more,” notes Yuri Aivazyan.

Why the concepts of “dead” and “deceased” are legally different and what it means in practice

As Roman Simutin, a lawyer, emphasizes, “killed” and “deceased ” soldiers are two different legal statuses, which also directly affect payments to relatives in the amount of 15 million hryvnias.

But there are many cases when soldiers die rather than die during combat operations, and these are two big differences. The MEC simply writes about the death, without stating that it occurred in the line of duty. In this case, they pay only one million hryvnias, not 15 million. That’s when you have to prove all these circumstances. This is a very big problem. And given the fact that today sick people are sent to the front who are “healthy” according to the conclusions of the military medical commission, if such a fighter dies of his chronic illness, his relatives will not be able to count on 15 million. “Only through the court can we try to get the money,” said [Kommersant] Roman Simutin.

In addition, according to the lawyer, a big problem today is establishing the fact of the death of missing persons. Military units practically do not investigate such cases. It is possible to recognize a person as dead, but to be recognized as dead, you need to go through a very difficult path: knocking on doors, looking for witnesses, etc.

After all, the courts are most often approached by those who are not formally entitled to payments, such as common-law wives, grandmothers, distant relatives, who are not actually entitled to these payments. And sometimes two women – the first and second spouses – apply for payments at once. There are many such situations.

Author – Alla Dunina

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Мандровська Олександра

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