Parliament approves draft law on 15 days of mandatory leave for all service members and extra leave for holders of combatant status

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted draft law No. 13235, which stipulates that service members must take at least 15 of the 30 days of their annual main leave.

Relevant amendments are being made to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Social and Legal Protection of Military Personnel and Their Family Members.’

The draft law also enables the granting of up to 14 additional days of leave to holders of combatant status, subject to the commander’s approval. This type of leave has not been provided since 2022 due to the martial law legal regime.

Therefore, after the law takes effect, service members will be entitled to:

• 30 days of main annual leave, of which 15 days are mandatory. A service member can opt out of these 15 days exclusively at their own initiative;
• 10 days of leave for family-related reasons;
• 14 extra days of leave for those with combatant status.

“To implement the President’s directive, the Ministry of Defence submitted a draft law allowing service members to take an additional 14 days of leave. This is a fair and just approach for the warriors who are continuously holding back the enemy in the combat zone. I thank the Members of Parliament who supported this decision. We will continue to listen to and support our service members,” said Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Defence of Ukraine.

According to Olha Reshetylova, the President’s Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Their Families, further increases in the number of leave days are also planned.  The new provisions will apply to military personnel carrying out combat missions in the first echelon of defense and in offensive operations. 

“I thank the Office of the President of Ukraine for its support, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for constructive discussions and the compromise reached, and the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine for its cooperation and prompt actions,” the President’s Commissioner emphasized.