Joint Actions Lead to Joint Results in Restoring IDP Pensions
Thanks to the joint response of human rights organizations and IDP Councils, pensions will be restored for citizens whose payments were unlawfully terminated in January. However, a notification regarding the non-receipt of pensions in Russia must be submitted by April 1, 2026.
On February 3, a meeting was held, attended by representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy, the Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU), human rights, and humanitarian organizations: Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services,” ZMINA Human Rights Center, NGO “Civic Holding ‘GROUP OF INFLUENCE’,” NGO “Donbas SOS,” NGO “Crimea SOS,” NGO “Crisis Insight,” CF “Right to Protection,” as well as UNHCR Ukraine. The discussion focused, in particular, on the barriers and bureaucracy that prevented people from undergoing identification and from submitting notifications of non-receipt of pensions in Russia by December 31, 2025. Following the discussion, officials agreed to the proposal to restore pensions and extend the deadline for submitting notifications regarding the non-receipt of pensions in Russia until April 1, 2026. We are currently awaiting the official formalization of this decision.
This is the first important step toward restoring justice. Together with IDP Councils and colleagues from human rights organizations, we continue to work on mechanisms to counter pension discrimination against internally displaced Ukrainians — specifically addressing the barriers and bureaucracy that prevented timely identification — as well as on a draft of amendments concerning restrictions on the right of internally displaced persons and their heirs to receive pensions.
According to PFU data, over 300,000 Ukrainians were deprived of their pensions in January: internally displaced persons who left the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) and live in territories controlled by the Government of Ukraine, citizens residing in the TOT, or those living outside of Ukraine. They were not warned about this decision, forcing elderly individuals to personally visit the PFU’s service centers to restore their payments.
The main reason for the termination of payments was that not all citizens submitted notifications regarding the non-receipt of pensions in Russia in time. At the same time, according to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated February 11, 2025, No. 299, “On Certain Peculiarities of Pension Payments (Monthly Lifelong Financial Support) and Insurance Payments for Industrial Accident and Occupational Disease Insurance Resulting in Loss of Capacity for Work,” the duty to ensure measures for confirming information on the non-receipt of pensions from the pension authorities of the Russian Federation by December 31, 2025, rested specifically with the PFU authorities.
Human rights organizations warned the PFU of the high risk of mass terminations of payments as early as December 2025.
Starting in January, human rights advocates recorded mass unlawful pension terminations. They prepared a collective appeal describing the situation and requesting an urgent solution, which was sent to the Ministry of Social Policy, Family, and Unity of Ukraine on January 22, 2026. This position was supported by over 60 civil society and charitable organizations, as well as representatives of IDP Councils from across Ukraine. We thank all involved IDP Council members for their active stance and support!
We support affected individuals through the Support to the Capacity of Government Institutions and Local Communities to Strengthen Social Protection Systems in Ukraine project, implemented with the support of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine.