A child of war. Unfortunately, this word has recently entered our everyday lexicon. Terrible military actions on the territory of Ukraine affected not only the military, but also the civilian population, among which a significant part is children. At a time when a child should be enjoying the sun, studying, walking with friends and getting to know the world, many young Ukrainians are forced to hide in basements from enemy shelling, study online when there is no electricity, and are afraid to go for a walk in the forest because they might hit an explosive device.
The final number of children affected by hostilities is currently impossible to determine, but in any case it can be said that children who currently live in Ukraine, especially in the occupied territories, the territories of active hostilities and those adjacent to them, are certainly in the broadest sense of the word – children of war. But with regard to legislative concepts, everything is not so simple here.
We asked the lawyers of the “Repeshko and Partners” Bar Association to comment on this issue, as well as to provide practical recommendations to our readers.
Currently, two concepts of “child of war” exist in parallel in the legislation. One – on the basis of the Law of Ukraine “On Social Protection of Children of War” dated November 18, 2004 according to Art. 1 of which “a child of war is a person who is a citizen of Ukraine and who was less than 18 years old at the time of the end (September 2, 1945) of the Second World War.” The second – on the basis of the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated April 5, 2017 No. 268 “On approval of the procedure for granting the status of a child who suffered as a result of hostilities and armed conflicts.” It should be noted that during its existence Resolution No. 268 underwent some transformations, because in 2017, at the time of its adoption, a child who simply suffered as a result of hostilities and armed conflicts had the right to receive the status, and already in 2023 the right to receive the status of a child, as well as a person who was injured during the implementation of an anti-terrorist operation and measures to ensure national security and defense, repel and deter armed aggression of the Russian Federation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, did not reach the age of 18 (of legal age), who as a result of hostilities and armed affected by conflicts in accordance with the listed points.
Currently, we will consider the status granted to the child by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated April 5, 2017 No. 268 as of 2024.
Currently, a child, as well as a person who, at the time of hostilities, armed conflicts, armed aggression of the Russian Federation, has not reached the age of 18 (majority), and as a result:
- were injured, contused, maimed;
- were subjected to physical and sexual violence;
- were stolen or illegally taken out of Ukraine;
- were involved in the actions of paramilitary or armed formations;
- illegally detained, including in captivity;
- suffered psychological violence.
In turn, as we can see, according to this resolution, there is no time limit for the occurrence of a traumatic situation in relation to a child, and therefore this document regulates the period not only from February 24, 2022, but also events that occurred earlier. The main criteria are a child under the age of 18 and actions arising from armed conflicts, armed aggression of the Russian Federation.
Usually, at present, children who are subject to the above-mentioned resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine are also called “child of war” in everyday life, which is not true and further confuses the situation with these two different statuses. In this resolution itself, the term “child of war” is not used. The specified concept belongs to the law and refers to persons who were such at the time of the end of the Second World War.
Another important point is the territorial nature of the issue. A child who has always lived and lives, for example, in Uzhgorod or Bila Tserkva, can receive this status only under the clause “injured, contused, maimed” as a result of enemy shelling. In our opinion, the clause “undergoed psychological violence” is not appropriate at all in this case.
The status is granted by the body of guardianship and guardianship at the registered place of residence, including as an internally displaced person, at the place of application, if the child’s place of residence is not registered or declared or registered in the territory on which hostilities are (were) conducted or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, or at the place of detection of such a child by local executive authorities and/or local self-government bodies.
Parents or persons who replace them, their relatives (grandmother, grandfather, great-grandmother, great-grandfather, aunt, uncle, adult brother or sister), stepfather, stepmother, representative of the guardianship authority have the right to apply for such a status. A child who has reached the age of 14 has the right to apply for this status independently.
Each local community has its own children’s service. It is to her that the application for the granting of status, consent to the processing of personal data and certified copies of the following documents are submitted in the prescribed manner: the child’s birth certificate or other document certifying the child’s identity; a document certifying the identity of the applicant; a document confirming the authority of the child’s legal representative (in the case when the child permanently lives/stays in a health care institution, educational institution or other children’s institution – a document confirming the fact of the child’s stay in such an institution) or family relations between the child and the applicant; certificates of registration of the child as an internally displaced person (if available); passport of a citizen of Ukraine, made in the form of a booklet (if available); a passport of a citizen of Ukraine or a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for traveling abroad in the form of an e-passport or an e-passport for traveling abroad (if available); extract from the register of the territorial community (if available).
In the event of an injury, contusion, or mutilation, extracts from the child’s medical card or a specialist’s consultation report, as well as copies of:
– statements about the commission of a criminal offense against a child or about involving a child in the proceedings as a victim, registered in accordance with the established procedure in the relevant law enforcement bodies;
– an extract from the Unified register of pre-trial investigations on the opening of criminal proceedings (regardless of the results of the pre-trial investigation) based on the specified statement about the commission of a crime against a child in the zone of hostilities and armed conflicts;
– an expert’s opinion based on the results of a forensic examination (if available) conducted during a pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings, which established the facts of physical and sexual violence against a child as a result of hostilities and armed conflicts.
In the event of psychological violence, the following are also submitted:
– the conclusion of the assessment of the needs of the family (person) in social services, prepared by the center of social services for the family, children and youth. A psychologist, psychotherapist, psychiatrist may be involved in assessing the needs of the family (person).
– a copy of the certificate with the inscription “Certificate of a member of the family of the deceased”,
– copies of a death certificate and a document confirming the death of a person as a result of military actions and armed conflicts, or a copy of a document confirming the death of a person as a result of injury, contusion, mutilation received as a result of military actions and armed conflicts, in the case of the death of the child’s parents or one of them from the number of civilians.
If the child falls under several points of traumatic actions, you yourself choose on what grounds to receive the status, but it is recommended to receive it on the most valid grounds.
An interesting problem is being discussed by the general population and is as follows. Many children receive the specified status precisely under subparagraph 6 of paragraph 3 of the resolution – “experienced psychological violence.” It is difficult to argue with this, because a child who sat in the basement of a house on Severny Saltivka in Kharkiv for two weeks under shelling without light, with limited access to drinking water and food, definitely experienced such violence. These days can have an unpredictable impact on the child’s development, because some children even stopped talking after that. And this is where a lot of fears arise – how this may affect the child’s life, the choice of his profession, admission to some specific work during employment.
It is no secret that persons who are employed, for example, by the Security Service of Ukraine, undergo multi-faceted and multi-level checks. There is no clear answer to this question yet, because we have not yet reached the period of time when children, having received this status, are employed and enrolled in education. Cautious parents, even if there are conditions for obtaining the specified status, prefer not to obtain it. Others, on the contrary, hope that in the future significant benefits and compensations will be determined for such children. Everyone decides for himself.
In our practice, there are rare cases when, after submitting documents to the children’s service according to the definition: “experienced psychological violence”, the employees of the specified service come to the family’s residence to draw up a certificate of inspection of living conditions, while some stopped at the doorstep and continued to the apartment did not pass, and some conduct a complete inspection of the apartment, especially meticulously finding out everything that concerns the child.
In the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which we talked about earlier, it is clearly stated that when considering documents under this item, the center of social services for families, children and youth prepares a conclusion of the assessment of the needs of the family (person) in social services. It is in the framework of the preparation of such a conclusion that the mentioned visits are carried out, and therefore, when submitting the relevant documents for obtaining the status, be ready for a visit by representatives of official bodies, who will carefully inspect your living conditions. Do you have the right to prevent representatives from inspecting? Definitely yes! Will this affect status? It depends on the specific family and the specific situation. In any case, since you have nothing to hide, it is better to cooperate with the children’s service. Even in the future, many situations may arise when the specified service will be useful to you for various issues that may arise in the future and are not related to the child receiving the specified status. By going to a conflict with them, you already make an impression about your family in a certain way, and certainly not in the best sense.
The decision to grant or refuse to grant the status of “child of war” is made by the body of guardianship and guardianship within 30 calendar days from the date of registration of the application for granting the status based on the results of the consideration of documents by the Commission for the Protection of Children’s Rights,
A person reaching the age of majority is not a reason for canceling the status.
And the main question that worries everyone – what gives the child the status obtained according to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated April 5, 2017 No. 268?
Benefits provided by the Law of Ukraine “On Social Protection of Children of War” dated November 18, 2004 do not apply to children who are currently receiving status according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated April 5, 2017 No. 268.
Currently, no official payments from the state, as well as benefits, are provided by the current legislation. A significant part of this issue is given to local authorities for consideration, which in turn are not in a hurry to take initiatives.
Many parents issue such a status to a child precisely counting on the future perspective, hoping that some kind of compensation, free trips to camps, benefits for education will be established in the future, and now if there is a not too difficult opportunity to issue a status, then it should be used.
The only benefit that is currently officially established for children with the status of war victims is provided by the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons” dated October 20, 2014, in accordance with Article 7, Clause 10 of which “Children from among internally displaced persons or children who have the status of a child who suffered as a result of military actions and armed conflicts, who study in preschool, general education, vocational and technical educational institutions regardless of subordination, types and form of ownership, are provided with free meals in accordance with the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.”
There is a lot of talk on the official sidelines about possible benefits for such children in the future, but now it is clear that this is not the most urgent issue for the country. In the future, the amount of benefits will largely depend on the number of people to whom they will need to be provided and on the amount of funding from the state budget or assistance from international donors.
