Appeal Regarding the Mass Suspension of Pension Payments in January 2026
Human rights organizations have appealed to the Government of Ukraine regarding the mass suspension of pension payments in January 2026, calling for urgent measures to restore them.
The appeal states that organizations are documenting numerous cases of the unlawful suspension of pension payments to Ukrainian citizens who left the temporarily occupied territories and now live in government-controlled areas, to citizens living in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and to citizens temporarily residing abroad.
Representatives of the organizations note that the situation is critical. Pensioners, particularly older people and people with disabilities, were left without their only source of income without any prior warning. These categories also include children of fallen defenders who receive a survivor’s pension.
In order to find out why their payments were stopped and to have them restored, people have to go to Pension Fund offices in person. Severe weather, emergency power outages, and the suspension of appointments during air raid alerts mean that many are forced to wait for hours outside service centers.
Unfortunately, the Pension Fund of Ukraine has effectively shifted responsibility for its own organizational and technical failures onto pensioners who are in an extremely vulnerable situation. Thousands of people have been left without money to live on, while also facing constant russian attacks, harsh winter conditions, and the consequences of strikes on energy infrastructure.
The EAST SOS Charity Foundation and other human rights organizations expect an urgent response from the Government of Ukraine and immediate measures to resolve the situation.
The full text of the appeal is available below.
You can support the appeal here.
The appeal was signed by:
- ZMINA Human Rights Center
- CO CF Stabilization Support Services
- NGO Civic Holding GROUP OF INFLUENCE
- NGO Donbas SOS
- NGO KrymSOS
- NGO CRISIS INSIGHT
- CO CFEAST SOS
- Right to Protection Charity Foundation
- Crimean Human Rights Group
- Charitable Foundation ROKADA
Recently, on January 21, representatives of tthe Coalition of organizations working to protect the rights of people affected by the armed aggression against Ukraine, presented the List of Support Programs for Internally Displaced Persons.
