Death of a serviceman at the training ground during exercises does not deprive the family of the right to 15 million UAH — court decision
Does the family of a serviceman have the right to a one-time assistance payment of 15 million UAH if he died not in combat, but during military exercises? This question was considered by the Lviv District Administrative Court. The court recognized the Ministry of Defense’s refusal to grant such assistance as unlawful and concluded that after legislative changes, the decisive factor is the causal link between the serviceman’s death and the performance of his military duties. At the same time, the court did not oblige the Ministry of Defense to immediately make the payment, as such a decision falls within the powers of the ministry itself.
Circumstances of the case
A senior soldier, mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, died in September 2023 during tactical fire training exercises in the Zaporizhzhia region. According to the official investigation, another serviceman accidentally discharged an AK-74 rifle, resulting in a fatal injury to the soldier.
By order of the military unit commander, this incident was recognized as an accident related to the performance of military duties. The Central Military Medical Commission reached the same conclusion, establishing that the injury that caused death and the cause of death were related to the performance of military duties.
Afterwards, the mother, wife, and two minor children of the serviceman applied to the Ministry of Defense for a one-time monetary assistance payment in accordance with paragraph 2 of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 168.
The dispute arose due to different interpretations of the law. The Ministry of Defense considered that the death of a serviceman during exercises was not grounds for applying Resolution No. 168, since he did not die during direct participation in combat or activities ensuring national security and defense. According to the ministry, in such circumstances, assistance should be granted under Resolution No. 975 in the amount of 750 times the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons. The family’s documents were returned for revision. The plaintiffs insisted that the decisive factor is the established causal link between the death and the performance of military duties.
What the court established
The court noted that during the case consideration, Law No. 4546-IX dated July 16, 2025, came into force, which amended Article 16-2 of the Law "On Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Their Families." The new version provides that a one-time monetary assistance of 15 million UAH is paid in case of a serviceman’s death while performing military duties, and the respective changes apply to legal relations arising from February 24, 2022.
According to the court, after these amendments, the legislator links the right to such payment specifically to the fact of performing military duties, not exclusively to direct participation in combat or measures to repel armed aggression, as interpreted by the Ministry of Defense.
The court also noted that all official documents in the case — materials of the official investigation, the conclusion of the Central Military Medical Commission, and the order to exclude the serviceman from the personnel list — confirm the causal link between the serviceman’s death and the performance of military duties.
Furthermore, the court applied the principle lex superior derogat legi inferiori ("a law of higher legal force prevails over a lower legal act") and indicated that the provisions of Law No. 4546-IX have priority over subordinate normative acts and must be applied to the disputed legal relations given the established retrospective effect by law.
Court decision
The court recognized as unlawful and canceled the Ministry of Defense commission’s decision to refuse the family members of the deceased serviceman a one-time monetary assistance under Resolution No. 168 and to return the documents for revision.
At the same time, the court denied the claim to directly oblige the Ministry of Defense to assign and pay the assistance, since making such a decision is within the discretionary powers of the ministry. The court deemed the proper remedy to be the obligation of the Ministry of Defense to reconsider the family members’ applications and make a new decision taking into account the legal assessment set forth in the court’s ruling.
In case 380/15376/25, the court proceeded from the fact that the Ministry of Defense’s legal position on the impossibility of applying Resolution No. 168 in this case is erroneous. During the reconsideration of the applications, the ministry must take into account the court’s conclusion that after the amendments introduced by Law No. 4546-IX, the decisive factor for determining the right to one-time monetary assistance is the established causal link between the serviceman’s death and the performance of military duties.
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