Over 169,000 Ukrainians Left Without Pensions in April, Says Ombudsman Lubyanyts

Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubyanyts has made a troubling announcement regarding the state of pension payments in the country. As of April 1, 2026, over 169,000 Ukrainians have been left without their pension benefits. Lubyanyts shared this information on his Facebook page, highlighting that official data from the Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU) shows a substantial decrease in the number of pensioners receiving payments. At the end of 2025, more than 1,033,574 individuals were receiving pensions, but by the beginning of April 2026, this number had dropped to 989,479.

Lubyanyts pointed out that among those who have lost their pensions are elderly individuals, veterans, and persons with disabilities. He urged the relatives of those who are unable to personally approach social protection authorities to assist them in completing the video identification process necessary to restore their payments. 'This issue requires urgent resolution, as thousands of Ukrainians are left without their rightful pensions due to complicated procedures and a lack of proper interaction between government registries,' emphasized the Ombudsman.

Furthermore, Lubyanyts stressed that he has repeatedly raised this issue at the relevant Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, receiving support from members of parliament. He demands that government registries begin to interact effectively with one another. 'There have been no real changes so far! Delays in pension payments are not related to the work of PFU employees, who perform their duties daily, but arise due to a lack of decisions at the government and relevant ministry levels,' he noted.

The Ombudsman also reported that 70% of the inquiries received by his office come from internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in government-controlled areas. According to him, these individuals are officially registered and present in IDP databases, yet the Pension Fund cannot identify them until they submit a paper application in person.

Lubyanyts provided the example of a woman named Alla, who relocated from the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk to Vinnytsia in 2023. She is a person with a disability and requires insulin. For three months, she survived without pension payments as the system halted their disbursement. Payments were only restored after the Ombudsman personally intervened. 'This should be the job of the state system. The lack of timely decisions from the relevant ministry forces people to navigate bureaucracy on their own,' Lubyanyts emphasized.

'169,000 Ukrainians are waiting for their rightful money, not another bureaucratic response,' he concluded, calling for urgent action to resolve this issue.

As previously reported, beginning April 1, 2026, Ukraine initiated one-time assistance payments of 1,500 hryvnias for pensioners and vulnerable populations. This initiative aims to support those facing difficult life circumstances; however, the issue of pension payments remains unresolved and requires immediate attention.

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