How participation in combat is credited toward qualifying service for the calculation of a military pension

Service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are entitled to a military pension after 25 or more years of service. The amount of pension benefits depends, in particular, on the total length of military service, with periods of participation in combat counted toward the service record.

The Ministry of Defence provides clarification on how participation in combat is credited toward qualifying service for the purpose of pension entitlement under the Law of Ukraine ‘On Pension Provision for Persons Discharged from Military Service and Certain Other Persons’.

Under this Law, one month of military service is credited as three months toward the length of service used to calculate a military pension, provided that during that month the service member directly participated in measures essential to the defense of Ukraine, the protection of civilian security, and the safeguarding of national interests in response to the armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine. Such participation must have taken place while the service member was physically present in the relevant areas and during the periods when those measures were carried out under martial law.

To ensure the correct calculation of the length of service going forward, commanders of military units, institutions, establishments, and bodies of military command are instructed to attach to service members’ personal files certificates confirming their direct participation in measures essential to the defense of Ukraine, the protection of civilian security, and the safeguarding of national interests in response to the armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine. Certificates must indicate that service members were physically present in the relevant areas and during the periods when those measures were carried out under martial law.