Persons who confidentially cooperated with intelligence and the SBU may receive combatant status

On July 17, 2026, draft law No. 15427 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Social and Legal Protection of Persons Involved in Confidential Cooperation with Intelligence or Counterintelligence Agencies" was registered in the Verkhovna Rada.

Its main goal is to eliminate gaps in legislation and introduce a unified system of social and legal protection for persons who, since February 19, 2014, have confidentially cooperated with intelligence agencies or the Security Service of Ukraine as a counterintelligence agency.

The practical significance of the document lies in the fact that it proposes to equate the scope of state guarantees for civilians who performed tasks for counterintelligence to those who cooperated with intelligence agencies.

Moreover, the bill aims to solve the problem of documentary confirmation of confidential cooperation, which for many years effectively deprived such persons of the opportunity to exercise their rights to social protection.

Why legislative changes became necessary

As noted in the explanatory note, current legislation already provides certain guarantees for persons who confidentially cooperated specifically with Ukraine’s intelligence agencies. At the same time, similar guarantees do not exist for civilians who performed confidential tasks for the Security Service of Ukraine, since the SBU is a counterintelligence, not an intelligence agency.

The authors of the bill emphasize that since the beginning of the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories and the conduct of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) and Joint Forces Operation (JFO), operational units of the SBU and intelligence agencies have actively involved civilians in performing confidential tasks. Some of these people were exposed, captured, tortured, or are still held in places of detention. At the same time, many cannot receive proper social protection due to the lack of legislative mechanisms or the inability to document the fact of cooperation.

Combatant status and war-related disability status will also be extended to counterintelligence informants

One of the key innovations is the amendment to the Law "On the Status of War Veterans and Guarantees of Their Social Protection."

The bill proposes to grant the right to combatant status to persons involved in confidential cooperation not only with intelligence but also with counterintelligence agencies of Ukraine, who performed relevant tasks in temporarily occupied territories, in ATO areas, during national security and defense measures, repelling and deterring armed aggression, or in other combat zones.

Similarly, it proposes to extend the right to war-related disability status to counterintelligence informants who sustained wounds, concussions, mutilations, or other health damages while performing such tasks.

At the same time, the procedure for granting such statuses should be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in a way that does not allow disclosure of the fact of confidential cooperation.

Specific guarantees will be enshrined for the first time in the Law "On Counterintelligence Activities"

The bill proposes to supplement the Law "On Counterintelligence Activities" with a new Article 10-1, which will comprehensively regulate the social and legal protection of counterintelligence informants.

In particular, the bill guarantees non-disclosure of the fact of confidential cooperation and provides for the possibility of applying special security measures regarding such persons and their close relatives. Additionally, informants will have the right to receive combatant status and war-related disability status, and their family members will be entitled to one-time financial assistance and medical care in case of the informant’s death, disability establishment, or loss of working capacity.

The document also stipulates that the state will assist in the release of persons detained, arrested, or convicted in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or abroad while performing counterintelligence tasks, and damages caused to them will be compensated from the state budget.

Separately, it proposes to introduce the possibility of simplified acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship or obtaining refugee or asylum status for foreigners who have made a significant contribution to the defense of Ukraine.

Protection will be extended to those detained in occupied territories

Another important change concerns the Law "On Intelligence."

Currently, the law directly provides for state assistance in the release of informants detained or convicted abroad. The bill expands these guarantees also to cases of detention, arrest, or conviction in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. At the same time, the procedure for compensating damages to such persons from the state budget is clarified.

Additionally, it is proposed that all persons who cooperated with intelligence agencies since February 19, 2014, will have the right to the full scope of social and legal protection provided by the Law "On Intelligence."

Presumption of accuracy of information when receiving social protection

Special attention deserves the proposed mechanism for confirming the right to social protection.

The bill proposes to enshrine in several laws the principle according to which the accuracy of information provided by a person involved in confidential cooperation is presumed during the administrative procedure. If a state body disagrees with such information, the burden of proof of its inaccuracy lies with that body.

The explanatory note states that this innovation is intended to solve the problem of lost documents, death of curators, or other circumstances that make it impossible to document the fact of confidential cooperation.

Additional protection for persons who were held captive

Changes are also proposed to the Law "On Social and Legal Protection of Persons Established to Have Been Deprived of Personal Liberty Due to Armed Aggression Against Ukraine."

Its scope is planned to be directly extended to Ukrainian citizens, foreigners, and stateless persons who were deprived of personal liberty specifically in connection with activities related to confidential cooperation with intelligence or counterintelligence agencies or performing resistance movement tasks.

At the same time, features of confirming such circumstances by certificates from relevant authorities and applying the presumption of accuracy of information provided by the person are defined.

What else the final provisions provide

The final provisions propose that the new guarantees will also apply to persons involved in confidential cooperation before the law comes into force, but not earlier than February 19, 2014.

After the law is adopted, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will have three months to bring its regulatory acts into compliance with the new provisions and create an effective mechanism for documentary confirmation of confidential cooperation, which will simultaneously ensure non-disclosure of such information and the possibility of exercising the right to social protection.

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