Your pension for the temporarily occupied territories may be suspended without verification: what to do

This has been reported by the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

The Pension Fund clarifies that pensioners residing in territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation will receive their pensions provided they undergo physical identification. If they fail to undergo this process in cases provided for by law, payments may be suspended.

How to resume payments

To continue or resume pension payments, the PFU advises undergoing physical identification. For those in the temporarily occupied territories, the guidance outlines two methods: via Diya.Sign or via video conferencing. An application for video identification can be submitted via the Pension Fund’s web portal, and advice can be obtained via the contact centre on 0 800 503 753.

During video identification, you must present your passport or another identity document and answer questions from a Pension Fund employee. The Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU) specifically notes that this procedure is carried out in accordance with regulations ensuring the protection of personal data.

A separate condition for payments

For pensioners residing in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) or who left for territory controlled by Ukraine during the temporary occupation, there is a further condition: the pension is paid provided that no pension payments are received from the pension authorities of the Russian Federation. If a person has already undergone physical identification in 2025–2026 but has not submitted such a notification as of 1 February 2026, payments will be made only until the notification is submitted, but no later than 1 April 2026.

You can submit a notification regarding the non-receipt of payments from the Russian Federation via your personal account on the PFU web portal in the ‘Remote Notification’ section, during video identification, or in person at a Pension Fund service centre. The PFU emphasises that such a notification is submitted once, and only resubmitted if the circumstances regarding the receipt of payments from the Russian Federation have changed.

If the payment has already been suspended due to the lack of a notification regarding non-receipt of payments from the Russian Federation, it may be resumed on the basis of a pensioner’s application for the resumption of pension payments, which must include this information.

You can check whether identification has been completed, as well as the date of the last check, in your personal account on the web portal or in the PFU app via the “My Identification” service. The service also shows the source from which the identification was carried out.

The PFU also reminds you of the general rules for granting old-age pensions. You can apply for such a pension no earlier than one month before reaching retirement age or at any time after becoming eligible for it. If the application is made no later than three months after reaching retirement age, the old-age pension is granted from the day following the day on which that age is reached.

As a reminder, the transition period for the digitisation of employment record books in Ukraine runs until 10 June 2026. At the same time, the Pension Fund emphasises that there are no fines or other penalties for late submission of electronic copies, and insurance record will not be lost.