New coefficients to salaries: what will change for military personnel
8 July 2025 19:46
ANALYSIS FROM 
A number of MPs proposed to revise the salaries of military personnel upward. Among the main arguments that cannot be disagreed with is that the Verkhovna Rada raised the military tax from 1.5% to 5%, but this had little effect on the military’s salaries, while security forces and officials have already experienced an increase in income. Komersant investigated how they propose to increase payments to the military.
Last week, the draft law “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Military Service under Martial Law and Updating the Level of Financial Support for Military Personnel” was registered in the Verkhovna Rada. According to its initiators, the military carry increased risks, serve without proper rotation, and are under constant threat to their lives and health. The deaths of tens of thousands of servicemen and thousands of missing persons call into question the need to review the conditions of service under martial law and the level of financial support for the military as a legal basis for social protection of the army itself and its families, as well as an incentive to defend the country.
The current set of laws and regulations governing the remuneration of the military, according to Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service,” classifies them as civil servants and provides for a unified system of accrual, as for other civil servants. However, this mechanism does not take into account the extreme conditions of service, risks to life and health, which effectively discriminates against the military compared to other civil servants.
Additional payments (bonuses, allowances, coefficients) are provided for other categories of employees, but are not taken into account for the military, although the intensity and extremity of service conditions in the combat zone are obvious – round-the-clock service, heavy losses, participation in battles, the risk of captivity and death,” the explanatory note says.
What MPs propose to change
The MPs believe that it is necessary to revise the approaches to the financial and pension support of the military as a tool of motivation, moral support and care from the state.
The current system of providing for the military is outdated: salaries have not changed since 2018 and are tied to the subsistence minimum of UAH 1,762, which does not take into account inflation and the risks of service. Unlike other categories of civil servants (NABU, SBI, BES), the military has no salary increase dynamics, no allowances for intensity and extreme conditions of service. According to the law, the military is entitled to allowances based on the intensity of service, but there are no clear criteria, especially in terms of combat missions.
According to Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Members of Their Families“, the financial support includes: official salary, salary for rank; monthly additional payments (allowances, bonuses, etc.); one-time additional payments.
According to the authors, the grounds for determining the level of intensity of military service should include its performance under martial law, directly in the area of combat operations of the military unit where servicemen are serving:
a) regardless of the position held (doctors, drivers, cooks, etc., each of whom performs tasks to ensure the combat capability of the military unit);
b) direct participation in battles to deter and repel armed aggression.
Thus, it is proposed to distinguish the level of intensity as an effective factor for the amount of financial support during military service:
a) military units that are geographically located in the area of combat operations;
b) direct participation of servicemen in battles and other combat missions on the contact line.
It is proposed that in the conditions of martial law (war, military aggression), deterrence and counteraction to armed aggression, coefficients should be applied to determine the amount of additional payments to servicemen during service in military units in the areas of direct combat operations (coefficient 3) and the coefficient for direct participation in battles on the contact line with the aggressor’s military units (coefficient 5).
Thecoefficient “3” is applied to the monthly financial support (salary, rank, length of service, permanent allowances, bonuses) for military personnel serving or ensuring the combat capability of units directly in combat areas during martial law.
Coefficient “5” – to the monthly allowance (salary, rank, length of service, permanent allowances, bonuses) for the military who are directly involved in combat operations on the contact line or perform tasks for the defense of Ukraine in combat areas, in the temporarily occupied territories, between the positions of the defense forces and the aggressor’s troops or on the territory of the aggressor state during martial law – for each day of such tasks.
This will strengthen patriotic, ideological and material motivation, as well as eliminate discriminatory differences between the military and other civil servants, the authors of the bill believe.
Additional payments
Today, CMU Resolutions No. 168 of February 28, 2022 and No. 419 provide for additional remuneration (UAH 100, 70, 50, 30 thousand), but their application is complicated by bureaucracy and the lack of uniform criteria. At the same time, for other civil servants, bonuses for labor intensity are included in their salaries and amount to up to 40%. The military, being in round-the-clock combat and under threat, do not receive similar bonuses, which contradicts the principles of justice and equality.
Pensions
Payments under Resolution No. 168 (for participation in combat) are currently treated as one-time payments and are not included in pension accruals. At the same time, the Supreme Court ruled that additional payments for participation in the ATO are monthly and should be included in pensions. Thus, all allowances for participation in the war and deterring Russian aggression are systemic and should be taken into account when awarding/recalculating pensions.
Taxes have been raised, but payments to the military have not
According to the MPs, there are funds to increase payments to the military, and not only with the military tax from 1.5% to 5%. In case of additional expenses, the draft law can be implemented at the expense of the state budget provided for in the Reserve Fund program (KPKV 3511030) or at the expense of grants and assistance from the EU, foreign governments, international organizations and loans.
Delaying the improvement of the system of financial support for the military in difficult combat conditions does not meet the needs to strengthen defense capabilities and restore the combat capability and health of the military. That is why it is proposed to immediately amend the current legislation of Ukraine.
The military support the idea, but fear that nothing will change significantly.
In each unit, 45-60% of the personnel receive combat service, but have never been in combat, and 10-12% have never been in the unit at all, and none of the “leaders” have seen them. These 10-12% are bandits, deputies, businessmen, and so on. If everyone gets a pay raise, then they will too. That is, those who are fighting full-time will receive the same amount as those who are only registered, and in fact, only officers will become richer,” said the soldier with the call sign “Kozak.
As proof of his words, he cited an indictment sent to the court against a battalion commander of a military unit in Donetsk region. According to the facts established by the SBI, from January 2023 to November 2024, the commander forged documents on the participation of a servicewoman in hostilities in Donetsk region, although the woman was always in Dnipropetrovs’k region and did not perform combat missions. On the basis of false documents, she was illegally paid additional remuneration for soldiers on the front line. The total amount of illegal payments exceeded UAH 1.7 million. There are dozens of such cases.
Author – Alla Dunina
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