The military serviceman was incorrectly credited for combat and monetary allowance since 2022: the court ruled in his favor
The Zaporizhzhia District Administrative Court considered a dispute between a serviceman and a military unit regarding the correctness of calculation and payment of monetary allowance, additional rewards, seniority allowance, as well as other payments provided by law for servicemen during martial law.
The court examined the legality of the military unit's application of the calculation base for determining the official salary and rank salary, as well as the grounds for paying additional rewards stipulated by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 168.
Circumstances of the case
The plaintiff served in the military from February 25, 2022, to August 8, 2025. He claimed that during the calculation of monetary allowance, the military unit unlawfully applied the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons established as of January 1, 2018, to determine the official salary and rank salary. In his opinion, after the restoration of the original wording of paragraph 4 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 704, the calculation should have been based on the subsistence minimum established by law as of January 1 of the respective calendar year.
Therefore, the serviceman requested a recalculation of the monetary allowance for the entire service period, as well as related payments, including monetary assistance for health improvement, material assistance for resolving social and domestic issues, and bonuses.
Additionally, the plaintiff claimed payment of a seniority allowance for a specific period of service, additional rewards of UAH 30,000 and UAH 100,000 according to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 168, as well as a one-time reward of UAH 70,000 for performing combat (special) tasks.
The military unit opposed the claim, stating that the monetary allowance was calculated in accordance with current legislation. The defendant also noted that additional rewards were paid depending on the nature of the tasks performed and based on documents confirming the right to the respective payments. According to the defendant, mere presence in the combat zone is not sufficient grounds for receiving a one-time reward of UAH 70,000.
Court's position
The court proceeded from the fact that Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Their Families" guarantees servicemen proper monetary allowance, and the procedure for determining its components is established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Analyzing the regulatory framework, the court noted the evolution of paragraph 4 of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 704 and the consequences of the judicial annulment of amendments introduced by Resolution No. 103. The court stated that after recognizing paragraph 6 of Resolution No. 103 as unlawful and invalid, the original wording of paragraph 4 of Resolution No. 704 was restored, which provided for determining official salaries and rank salaries by multiplying the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons established by law as of January 1 of the calendar year by the respective tariff coefficient.
The court also took into account the legal conclusions of the Supreme Court, in particular the ruling dated February 17, 2026, in case No. 520/5814/24, which formed the approach to applying paragraph 4 of Resolution No. 704 in its original wording and using the subsistence minimum established by law for the respective year as the calculation base for determining monetary allowance.
The court concluded that during the disputed period, the plaintiff's monetary allowance should have been determined taking into account the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons established by law as of January 1 of the respective year, and not based on the figure applied by the defendant.
At the same time, regarding the claims for additional rewards of UAH 30,000, UAH 100,000, the one-time reward of UAH 70,000, and the seniority allowance, the court found no grounds for satisfaction and denied these parts of the claim.
Court conclusions
The Zaporizhzhia District Administrative Court partially satisfied the claim in case No. 280/2465/26.
The court recognized the actions of the military unit regarding the calculation and payment to the serviceman during the period from February 25, 2022, to August 8, 2025, of monetary allowance, monetary assistance for health improvement, material assistance for resolving social and domestic issues, and bonuses using the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons as of January 1, 2018, as unlawful.
The court obliged the military unit to recalculate the monetary allowance and related payments for the specified period based on the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons established by law as of January 1 of 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, applying the respective tariff coefficients, taking into account previously paid amounts and compensating personal income tax in the manner prescribed by law.
The court denied the rest of the claims. The court's decision may be appealed to the Third Administrative Court of Appeal.
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