ILI experts spoke about the obstacles civilians in Ukraine encounter when trying to obtain war-related disability status
Between 2022 and 2025, tens of thousands of civilians in Ukraine were wounded as a result of Russian aggression, yet only 1,437 of them submitted an application for the status of a person with war-related disability. This is discussed in an article by the Institute of Legislative Ideas published in Mirror Weekly, titled "Wounded by War, but Unprotected: Why Civilians Get Lost in the System."
"The scale of health damage sustained by Ukraine's civilian population is growing relentlessly: according to estimates by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, in 2025 alone, 12,142 civilians were wounded as a result of attacks by the aggressor state – 31% more than in 2024 and 70% more than in 2023. This chasm between the actual scale of harm and the number of those who were able to complete the procedure is the very essence of the problem," ILI analysts said.
In their observation, civilians wounded as a result of hostilities in Ukraine are forced to navigate a multi-stage bureaucratic procedure in order to obtain war-related disability status – from proper documentation of the injury in hospital to criminal proceedings, an ECOPFO conclusion, and a decision by the Interdepartmental Commission under the Ministry of Veterans' Affairs. This involves five consecutive stages that formally appear as a logical chain: documenting the circumstances of the injury, collecting medical records, establishing disability, proving the connection between the injury and the war, and then submitting an application for status.
"However, at each of these stages systemic failures arise: doctors fail to record the war-related nature of the injury, investigators delay ordering forensic medical examinations, and extracts from the pre-trial investigation register may not contain data on a specific victim. According to statistics for 2022-2025, more than 63% of refusals by the Interdepartmental Commission are linked precisely to a lack of documents confirming the fact of injury. The most vulnerable remain residents of occupied and rural areas who, due to objective circumstances, are unable to collect the necessary package of documents on time or independently monitor the progress of their case," the experts explained.
According to them, countries that have long grappled with the consequences of armed conflicts have developed more flexible approaches that spare victims unnecessary bureaucracy. Furthermore, the logic of a flexible approach has already been embedded in the operating principles of the international Register of Damage caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. This is the first element of a future international compensation mechanism, which documents claims, evidence, and information about harm, losses, and damages caused as a result of the full-scale invasion.
"To submit an application to the Register under category A2.3 'Serious Personal Injuries,' a person does not need to already hold the status of a person with a disability or a person with war-related disability. A victim may submit whatever evidence and documents they have at the time of application, and subsequently supplement the application with new materials. Difficulties with national procedures are not a reason to delay applying to the Register. Obtaining victim status should not depend critically on criminal proceedings or the procedural documents generated within them," the article states.
Among their recommendations, ILI experts proposed three key changes on which the national mechanism for documenting health damage and establishing war-related disability status should be based: reducing the procedure's dependence on criminal proceedings, revising the grounds for denying disability status, and establishing a clear deadline for revoking previously issued decisions of the Interdepartmental Commission.
"Proper documentation of health damage is not merely a matter of social protection. It is the foundation for documenting the scale of suffering that Russia has inflicted on Ukraine's civilian population, and for future international justice. Every undocumented case is a lost piece of evidence," ILI emphasized.