The Government has adopted Resolution No. 1775, which is intended to set out the support mechanism for civilians after their release from unlawful imprisonment or after they reach Ukrainian-controlled territory on their own.

The resolution stems from Ukrainian Law No. 2010-IX "On the Social and Legal Protection of Persons Deprived of Personal Liberty as a Result of the Armed Aggression Against Ukraine." The law provides state support for these people, but the official procedure for establishing the fact of deprivation of liberty can take some time. Resolution No. 1775 is meant to ensure basic assistance immediately after a person's return, before that procedure is completed.

The resolution provides for two blocks of support.

The first is immediate assistance: basic essentials, medical and psychological care, and rehabilitation. This block does not require the kind of complex application procedure that applies to the financial assistance.

The second block is a separate procedure for receiving a one-off payment of UAH 50,000. This is where the most serious difficulties may arise.

The payment is not automatic. To receive it, a person must submit an application together with a package of documents, and the review may take up to 30 working days — that is, more than a month, even without additional delays.

In addition, different categories of people face different "entry points" to this procedure.

For those released through official mechanisms, the key document is a certificate from the SBU's Joint Centre. However, the procedure for obtaining this certificate and the timeframes for issuing it are not clearly defined, which may slow the process.

For those who returned on their own, the requirements are more demanding — they must obtain the status of victim in criminal proceedings. This depends on the registration of the case and on the decisions of the investigator and the prosecutor.

As a result, two people with the same experience of unlawful detention may end up in very different situations: one moves through the procedure quickly, the other has to wait for additional procedural decisions.

That is why there is a real risk that the assistance described as "priority" may, in practice, prove to be lengthy and bureaucratically complex.

The full analytical breakdown of the resolution is available at this link.

This post was created by the NGO Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund, administered by ISAR Ednannia under the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine — a Driver Towards Reforms and Democracy project, funded by Norway and Sweden.