Payments to families of persons missing in special circumstances

In the context of war, families of persons missing in special circumstances often suffer not only emotional losses but also serious financial difficulties. Such families are entitled to receive military pay, which will be provided until their missing relatives are released from captivity or declared missing or dead by a court. Such pay is an important financial support for families, providing decent living conditions and the ability to support children, pay for housing, medical treatment, etc.

At the same time, on February 1, 2025, the Government changed its approach to provide Military pay to families, retaining part of the money for servicemen until they return from captivity.

What is military pay?

Military pay, being the standard amount of compensation for service members based on each individual pay grade, includes the following:

official salary and salary by military rank;
monthly additional types of remuneration (salary increase, allowances, surcharges, permanent remuneration, bonus);
one-time payments.

Military pay is determined depending on the position, military rank, duration, intensity and conditions of military service, qualifications, academic degree and academic rank of the serviceman.

What is a personal order?

Servicemen who went missing under special circumstances continue to be accrued with military pay.

A serviceman may write in advance a personal order in case of capture or hostage-taking, internment in neutral states or went missing, and specify the people who will receive military pay due to him, determining the percentage of payment provided for such people.

What if there is no personal order?

If a serviceman who went missing under special circumstances did not make a personal order, there are two categories of relatives who are entitled to receive payments in the following proportions:

How to receive payments for missing persons?

Report a missing person to the National Police.

Once you become aware of a person missing, you should immediately file a report with the police. Once the fact of the missing has been registered in the Unified Register of Persons Missing in Special Circumstances, you should obtain an extract from this register.

Prepare the necessary documents

In particular, you will need:

Passport (for all adult family members).
Information about the place of registration.
Identification code (tax ID).
A document confirming family ties (for a wife — a marriage certificate, for parents — a birth certificate, etc.)
Certificate with bank account details.

Create an application for provision of payments

The application and the attached documents can be submitted in person to the Territorial Centre of Recruitment and Social Support or sent by postal services. You can also send the documents directly to the commander of the military unit.

! Please note that the payment is not granted automatically. To receive payments, you must submit an application and all requested documents.

What to do in case of refusal?

If the commander of a military unit refuses to appoint and accrue payments, you must first receive such a refusal in writing. This is important in order to be able to appeal against it in court.

What happens to the allowance if there is no personal order and relatives have not applied for payment?

The military pay that is due and unpaid to servicemen missing in special circumstances, after the person being declared dead by a court, are included in the list of inheritance.

How long can relatives be provided with Military pay?

The provision of military pay continues until the circumstances of the missing persons are fully clarified, they are released from captivity or declared missing or dead by a court. But no more than until the day the serviceman is excluded from the list of personnel of the military unit.