On December 4, the Verkhovna Rada approved in its second reading bill No. 2045-1 “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Granting Status and Social Guarantees to Individuals Among the Participants of the Anti-Terrorist Operation”.

The draft law provides for the granting of the status of combatants to volunteers who participated in the anti-terrorist operation in the Donbass for at least 30 calendar days as part of informal volunteer units that cooperated with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs or other military formations. The public organization “Legal Hundred” which is the co-author of the draft law No. 2045-1 reported about it.

The decision to grant combatants status to military volunteers will be taken by an interagency commission under the Ministry for Veteran Affairs, Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons.

It should be noted that the draft law deals solely with the granting of combatant status to military volunteers and not with the legalization of voluntary units. Volunteer combatant status will be available for participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO). Participation in the Joint Forces Operation will not be taken into account.

Documents required to obtain combatant status by military volunteers:

1. Certificate from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine or other agency, which according to the law “On terrorism” is the subject of the fight against terrorism, about the period of direct execution of combat tasks in the area of ​​ATO.
2. Excerpt from the order of the Anti-Terrorist Center of the Security Service of Ukraine on involvement of a person in the ATO.

In the absence of these documents, the evidence from not less than 3 witnesses with the status of “combatant” or “war-disabled person” will be a basis for obtaining the combatant status.