Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on the payment of pensions to IDPs from Crimea. The adoption of this law was recommended by human rights defenders

On April 25, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 9453, which, among other things, regulates the payment of pensions to residents of Crimea who were forced to leave due to the occupation. For a long time, human rights defenders recommended that the authorities adopt this draft law. It is included in the road map of draft laws on the protection of victims of war, which human rights organisations prepared for the authorities.

This law should regulate the payment of pensions to citizens of Ukraine who left the occupation. This issue most acutely concerned IDPs from Crimea, because before that they were forced to prove that they do not receive a pension from the Russian Federation, and to obtain a corresponding certificate from the pension authorities of Russia. It was impossible to do this, in particular, due to the severance of diplomatic relations with the aggressor country after the start of a full-scale war.

“Our Coalition, which takes care of issues of protection of the rights of war victims, supports the cancellation of such a discriminatory rule for Crimeans, which limited their rights to pension. From now on, IDPs from Crimea can only submit a declaration of non-receipt of a pension from the Russian Federation in order to receive a pension”, the advocacy director of Human Rights Centre ZMINA, Alena Lunova comments.

Every year, the coalition also presents road maps of draft laws that should protect victims of war and which the state should adopt, revise or reject. The current list you can find here.