Court confirms death of soldier who disappeared in Kherson region

A soldier who went missing in Kherson region during a battle in 2022 was officially declared dead by a court. The decision allowed his family to formalize property and social rights.

This was reported by the Judicial and Legal Newspaper.

The mother of a serviceman who went missing while performing a combat mission in the Kherson region in April 2022 has finally received legal confirmation of his death. The Rivne Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the local court and rejected the appeal of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, confirming that the available evidence allows us to make a reliable assumption about the death of the soldier.

The soldier had been serving under contract since 2016 and was a squad leader of a machine gun platoon in a mechanized battalion. On April 20, 2022, he went missing during a combat mission in one of the settlements in the Kherson region. After receiving a report of his disappearance, his mother contacted the police, and criminal proceedings were opened.

The mother filed a lawsuit, as official recognition of her son's death was necessary to receive the benefits provided by law and to formalize the inheritance. The court of first instance concluded that the application was substantiated, as the establishment of the fact of the death of a serviceman during service as a result of Russian aggression directly affects the exercise of her personal and property rights as a member of the deceased's family.

As the court noted, declaring a serviceman dead does not mean that the search is terminated - the search continues until the location of his whereabouts or remains are established. At the same time, such a decision entitles the family to receive payments, inheritance and other personal and property rights. The court noted that the conclusions of the first instance were based on convincing evidence and complied with the law.

Last year, the court acquitted Oksana Mintseva, the former head of the social, educational and psychological work department of the Northern Correctional Colony No. 90 Oksana Mintseva in the case of collaborationism. During the trial, the charges were changed.

Анна Бальчінос