Here is the analysis of this court decision, prepared for your material:
1. The subject of the dispute is the right of the family members of a serviceman who died from a disease while performing military service duties to receive a one-time financial assistance in the amount of UAH 15,000,000, as provided for by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 168.
2. The Supreme Court, composed of the judicial chamber, departed from previous conclusions set forth in the resolutions dated July 17, 2024 (case No. 600/548/23-a) and August 22, 2024 (case No. 380/9868/23), which previously allowed for an expansive interpretation of the grounds for the payment of assistance. The Court emphasized that Resolution No. 168 is an exceptional social guarantee of wartime; therefore, its provisions cannot be interpreted expansively. The Court distinguished between the concepts of “death in action” (being killed) and “death as a result of a disease,” pointing out that to receive the UAH 15 million payment, it is necessary to prove a direct causal link between the death and a wound, shell shock, injury, or mutilation sustained while defending the Motherland. The conclusion of a military medical commission regarding the connection of a disease to the defense of the Motherland is not, in itself, an automatic basis for the payment of this amount. In the event of death from a disease that has no direct connection to a wound, family members are entitled to assistance, but in the amounts determined by the general Law No. 2011-XII and Procedure No. 975, and not by Resolution No. 168. Consequently, since in this case the death occurred due to acute hepatorenal failure without a proven connection to a wound, there are no grounds for the payment of UAH 15 million.
3. The Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the lower courts and adopted a new decision to dismiss the claim.
