Military leave law: General Staff provides official clarification

 According to Ukrinform, the General Staff announced this on Facebook.

“The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported a bill that provides for the mandatory provision of 15 days of annual basic leave to military personnel. This right can only be waived at the soldier's request,” the statement said.

The law amends the Law of Ukraine “On Social and Legal Protection of Military Personnel and Members of Their Families.” Following the regulatory act, combatants are once again eligible for 14 additional days of leave with the permission of their commander.

After the law comes into force, military personnel will be able to exercise their right to receive:

30 days of basic leave, of which 15 days are mandatory;

10 days of leave for family reasons; 

14 days of additional leave for combatants.

In addition, a mechanism is being developed to compensate for unused vacation days not after dismissal, but annually.

On behalf of the President of Ukraine, representatives of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, and the Office of the President of Ukraine, in particular Pavlo Palisa and Olha Reshetylova, worked on the legislative initiative.

“I would like to thank the Office of the President of Ukraine for its support, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for constructive discussion and compromise solutions, and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for its cooperation and operational developments,” emphasized Olha Reshetylova, the Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Their Families.

She also mentioned plans to increase the number of vacation days for military personnel performing combat missions in the first echelon of defense and during offensive operations in the future.

As reported by Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that military personnel should receive an additional 15 days of vacation starting in August.