Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the aggressor country into Ukraine, the way of life and the status of society have changed radically, the number of war veterans is increasing. As informs Deputy Minister of Veteran Affairs Maksym Kushnir, as of 2024, 1.2 million veterans are registered in the state register. However, there are soldiers at the front who do not yet have this status. And this means that at the end of hostilities, the number of veterans may increase to an average of 5-6 million people.
According to Article 4 of the Law “On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection”, war veterans include active participants in hostilities, persons who have acquired disabilities as a result of participation in hostilities, and actual participants in the war. As a rule, these are middle-aged men (30-45 years old), who had a profession and a workplace before mobilization, and in the current conditions have become either soldiers or volunteers.
According to the Ministry of Veteran Affairs, 70% of veterans were employed before mobilization. It should also not be forgotten that women also join the ranks of the Armed Forces. As of 2024, according to the IOU, there are 4,000 women in the territories where hostilities are taking place. There are already more than 13,000 women with the status of “combatants”.
What are the current needs of veterans?
As a result of the survey conducted by the educational and analytical department of the Ukrainian Veterans Fund of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, it was established:
- 47.71% of respondents have an urgent need for physical health support,
- 39.26% need housing,
- 37.54% need psychological support,
- 35.96% need financial assistance,
- 34.81% are looking for a startup for their own business,
- 32.66% are looking for a job,
- 28.08% need information awareness in existing programs for the integration of veterans,
- 27.36% need retraining courses,
- 11.17% need medication.
In addition, according to the data research, veterans may have the most problems with their physical and mental health, 63.61% point to this factor.
- 63.32% worry about how society will accept them after their return.
- 42.26% are worried about the bureaucracy and difficulties in processing payments of social benefits.
- 39.4% are concerned about employment.
- 29.8% are worried about medical care.
- 20.77% share fears about misunderstanding on the part of relatives.
- 8.45% are concerned about the state of alcohol or drug addiction.
Activities of the state regarding the integration of veterans into civilian life
- informational activity – creation of a network of centers for veterans with the purpose of familiarization with the provision of opportunities in the spheres of employment, entrepreneurial activity, provision of medical services and psychological support;
- financial and credit support – promotion of veteran business development;
- medical rehabilitation activities – provision of free medical care and benefits in case of health defects;
- social adaptation activity – cooperation of all state structures aimed at creating favorable conditions for the adaptation of veterans in civil society.
SWOT analysis of the state’s effectiveness in the implementation of the process of integration of veterans
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Considering the above, it is worth monitoring the relevance of the needs of veterans and making all possible benefits and available rehabilitation programs as accessible as possible. So, for example, when providing medical care, one should take into account all possible diseases and injuries that veterans encounter during their military service. That is, to renew the list of these diseases and the drugs necessary for their treatment.
Since the majority of respondents were concerned about the loss of professional skills (42.28%), and as of today 30.95% of unemployed veterans are registered, it is worth creating a Unified register of programs that provide training and retraining to meet the needs of veterans in finding a job and provide them the opportunity to be competitive in the labor market.
This year the state allocated UAH 13 billion 554.2 million for financing the state veteran policy in Ukraine. This is twice as much compared to 2023, when it was only 6 billion 838.6 million UAH were allocated. Providing veterans with housing remains a priority for the state, but compared to 2023, when UAH 5.5 billion was allocated, in 2024 the amount allocated increased by UAH 247.9 million. At the same time, an amount of 2 billion 588.2 million is provided for measures of mental and physical rehabilitation and professional adaptation of veterans, which is five times more than planned in 2023.
Despite such an impressive amount of funds, which is supposed to improve a number of rehabilitation and integration measures planned by the state for veterans, the results of the survey of the Sociological Group “Rating”54 nevertheless point to the reverse side of the coin. So, as early as January 2023, 53% of veterans were dissatisfied with the state’s work on rehabilitation measures, and in 2024, this figure increased to 55.3%.
During the survey conducted by the Ukrainian Veterans Fund, it was established that 45.4% of veterans are sure that the state does not fulfill its obligations to them. This is quite a serious indicator! According to many respondents, all benefits were created only formally, and in fact, remain inaccessible to veterans.
Many veterans during the survey shared stories of breaking the law in aid. So, for example, adequate rehabilitation services were not provided to Azov residents. Instead, veterans were sent to clay modeling courses.
In addition, the analysis of the state of medical care shows that veterans clearly separate military medicine from civilian medicine, indicating that the latter has too low a level of service. According to veterans, the modern health care system lacks material and technical base. For example, during the treatment of PTSD and akubarotrauma, sanatorium-resort treatment, prosthetics. Benefits for prosthetics are prescribed in the legislation, but the need to purchase breast implants in case of injury and trauma of female veterans is not taken into account. It is also worth pointing out the lack of a correct inclusive space.
International experience
An example of effective assistance to war veterans is the Veterans Health Alliance in Great Britain, which has 49 hospitals, where about 100 qualified specialists work, who are clearly aware of all the urgent needs of veterans and actively cooperate with charitable organizations in order to provide funding and materials.
Regarding the implementation of inclusion, the Veterans’ Independence Program, which operates in Canada, is an example to follow. In the course of this program, tax-free funds are provided annually to meet the needs of veterans: personal hygiene, outpatient medical care, food provision, cleaning of the territory, transportation, long-term care and provision of ways of adaptation.
So, in foreign countries, they do not leave veterans with their problems and disabilities alone, but help in every possible way to make life easier and facilitate adaptation. It is this kind of experience that the state should emulate in order to ensure full adaptation and integration of veterans, people who protect the borders of our country at the cost of their own health.
