However, in practice, the Pension Fund generally refuses these payments because, due to the complexity of the procedure, it is difficult to prove that a particular company is indeed a critical infrastructure facility. One of the most cynical cases was the refusal to the widow of an employee of a defence company.

However, this problem can be solved through the courts, including for employees of medical institutions. This was reported by the lawyer for Be like us, Vitaliy Dudin, with reference to the decision of the Odessa District Administrative Court of 28 February 2025 concerning a nurse from Kherson, who defended the right to compensation for critical infrastructure facility (CIF) workers injured by the occupants.

The woman was hit by rocket fire on 1August 2023 while working at the Kherson City Clinical Hospital. E.E. “Karabelesha” (another nurse was injured and the doctor died instantly). The victim applied to the PFU organisation for financial assistance under Law 2980. As she has a Group II disability, she could receive 500,000 UAH. However, the assistance was refused because the hospital is not listed in the OKI [critical infrastructure] register.

Despite this, according to the lawyer, the court ruled the refusal illegal, because the failure to obtain critical infrastructure status was due to the fault of the Ministry of Health and the administration of the company. Referring to the principle of “good governance”.

As we know, nearly 200 healthcare workers were killed during the large-scale Russian attack. These figures are probably incomplete.

5 March 2025

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