The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, together with the Commander-in-Chief and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has introduced a single standard template for a military unit commander’s order on a service member sustaining a wound, injury, concussion or mutilation.
This was reported by the Ministry of Defence.
The relevant changes have been made to the Records Management Instruction in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, approved by Order No. 40 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine dated 31 January 2024. This was reported by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
Previously, the Instruction did not include such a template, so military units prepared documents in different ways, often with delays. This could lead to late issuance of a certificate on the circumstances of the injury and delays in payments. In addition, due to incomplete information, the military medical commission might not link the injury to the defence of the Motherland.
The single standard template provides for recording the circumstances in which a service member sustained an injury. In particular, the document will specify:
- the date and place of the incident;
- the service member’s position and the tasks they were carrying out;
- the circumstances of medical assistance and evacuation;
- details of witnesses;
- documents confirming the circumstances of the injury.
On the basis of the order, a certificate on the circumstances of the injury will be issued, which is required for further medical review and the assignment of the payments due.
The commander of the military unit must issue the order within five days from the date of the incident or from receiving information about it.
If several service members were injured as a result of a single incident, their circumstances may be recorded in one order, with information provided separately for each person.
The certificate will be sent electronically via the electronic document management system (SEDO). If there is no technical capability to do so, or if the service member submits a relevant request, a paper copy will be produced for them.
The document will be used when the military medical commission considers the circumstances of the injury and when processing payments related to a combat injury.
The Ministry of Defence expects that the single standard document template and the defined deadlines for its preparation will help streamline the procedure for recording injuries and reduce delays in processing documents for service members.