In Ukraine, a pilot project is being launched aimed at strengthening air defense by creating and attracting air defense groups (ADGs), which will be formed among participants in volunteer formations of territorial communities (VFTOs).
However, the status of DFTO volunteers requires legislative regulation, since they are not yet considered military personnel, said Anna Daniel, a lawyer, manager of the Anna Daniel Law Firm, and a candidate of legal sciences .
“Until the status of the GPP and the volunteers in them is determined by law, all statements about ‘guarantees like those of the military’ are just declarations,” she noted.
As the lawyer explained, without changes to the Law of Ukraine On National Resistance, budget legislation and specialized regulations, DFTO volunteers:
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- will not be able to receive stable financial support;
- will not be entitled to compensation or insurance payments in the event of injury or death.
ICTV Facts looked into how one can join the initiative, where to apply, what the requirements are, whether they will be issued weapons, what the situation is with payments and the status of a military serviceman for DFTO volunteers, and what legislative changes are needed.
- What legislation regulates the activities of the DFTO?
- How to join air defense groups
- Who may not be allowed to participate in newly created GPPs
- What documents are required for DFTO participants?
- How long does it take to make a decision?
- How are such air defense groups trained?
- What weapons will they be able to use and who will they obey?
- Will DFTO volunteers receive military status?
- What is the situation with payments to DFTO volunteers?
- What documents require changes and who should initiate them
What legislation regulates the activities of the DFTO?
With the beginning of the full-scale aggression of Russia against Ukraine, members of volunteer formations of territorial communities are involved in the air defense of the territory of Ukraine as part of mobile fire groups.
The activities of volunteer formations of territorial communities (VFTO) are provided for:
- Law of Ukraine On the Fundamentals of National Resistance No. 1702-IX;
- by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine On approval of the Regulation on volunteer formations of territorial communities dated 12/29/2021 No. 1449;
- by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine On approval of the Procedure for organizing, ensuring and conducting training of volunteer formations of territorial communities to perform territorial defense tasks dated 12/29/2021 No. 1447.
How to join air defense groups and where to apply
On June 19, 2025, the Procedure for the implementation of the pilot project to strengthen the air defense of the territory of Ukraine by involving air defense groups, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of June 11, 2025 No. 699, came into force.
Lidiya Karplyuk, a lawyer and partner at Grain Law Firm, told Fakty ICTV.
A volunteer formation must be formed in the territorial community from citizens of Ukraine who live there.
A volunteer formation is formed by a meeting. It is considered legitimate if at least five people participate in it, as well as the commander of the military unit of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and representatives of the local government body of the relevant territorial community.
Based on the results of the meeting, a protocol of the meeting of the initiative group on the creation of a volunteer formation of the territorial community is drawn up.
Among other things, it should contain information about the decision to approve a candidate for the position of commander of a volunteer formation, documents for which are sent by the commander of a military unit of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to undergo a special check at the SBU and the National Police, Karplyuk said.
According to paragraph 13 of Regulation No. 1449, a territorial community within the territory of responsibility may form several volunteer formations, taking into account the available resource and human capabilities.
“Military administrations can initiate the creation of such groups in the relevant territory,” the lawyer asserts.
That is, in order to join an air defense group, you first need to find out from the local government body (village, town, city council) whether a volunteer formation has been created in the relevant territory and join it, Karplyuk noted.
According to her, a citizen of Ukraine aged 18 years or older, living in a community where a volunteer formation operates, who has passed a medical, professional and psychological selection (check) and signed a contract as a territorial defense volunteer, can join.
Who may not be allowed to participate in newly created GPPs
A person who has previously been sentenced to imprisonment for committing a serious or especially serious crime, except for a rehabilitated person, or who has two or more convictions for committing intentional crimes, shall not be included in the volunteer formation.
In addition, a person cannot be a member of a volunteer formation during the period:
- military service;
- service in the military reserve of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
- other military formations formed in accordance with the law;
- services in law enforcement agencies.
What documents are required for DFTO participants?
A person who has expressed a desire to become a member of a volunteer formation submits an application to the commander of the volunteer formation.
The application shall indicate the person’s last name and first name, information about the registration of the place of residence (stay), education, place of work or type of activity, information about the military registration specialty (if any), and the justification for the desire to become a member of the volunteer formation.
The following documents must be attached to the application:
- copies of the passport of a citizen of Ukraine;
- military registration document (mandatory for men and if available for women);
- a document indicating the registration number of the taxpayer's registration card (except for persons who, due to their religious beliefs, refuse to accept the registration number of the taxpayer's registration card, have officially informed the relevant control body about this and have a mark in their passport);
- medical certificate to obtain a permit (license) for an object of the permit system in form 127/o.
The documents attached to the application of a person who has expressed a desire to become a member of a volunteer formation can be obtained through information interaction with the relevant government agencies.
How long does it take to make a decision?
The commander of the volunteer formation makes a decision on enrollment in membership in the volunteer formation within seven working days or provides the person with a reasoned refusal based on the criteria defined in paragraphs 16 and 17 of Regulation No. 1449 (commission of crimes, military service, service in law enforcement agencies), explained Lidiya Karplyuk.
The contract of a territorial defense volunteer is concluded for a period of three years . The registration of such citizens of Ukraine is carried out by the territorial recruitment and social support center (TRC and SP) on a territorial principle. At the same time, the DFTO commander maintains a nominal list.
In the event of the formation of air defense groups, members of the DFTO are included in their composition upon written applications from among persons not subject to conscription for military service upon mobilization, for a special period and who have undergone appropriate training, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine On Military Duty and Military Service, said Lidiya Karplyuk.
“These provisions do not apply to air defense groups with manned aircraft, which are included, upon written application, by members of the DFTO who meet the established qualification requirements and have documents confirming the right to perform the relevant functions of piloting and/or servicing the relevant manned aircraft,” the lawyer noted.
How are such air defense groups trained?
The training of air defense groups is carried out in accordance with the Procedure for organizing, ensuring and conducting the training of volunteer formations of territorial communities to perform territorial defense tasks, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of December 29, 2021 No. 1447.
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In addition, centers for training citizens for national resistance may be involved in the preparation of air defense groups in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated April 18, 2025 No. 478 On the functioning of centers for training citizens for national resistance.
External pilots (operators) of UAVs that are part of air defense groups must obtain an external pilot certificate, in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1129 of October 1, 2024.
“This requirement does not apply for 45 days from the date of the start of the pilot project,” explained Lidiya Karplyuk.
What weapons will they be able to use and who will they obey?
Provision of material and technical resources and financing of the activities of air defense groups is carried out in accordance with the Law of Ukraine On the Fundamentals of National Resistance and Regulation No. 1449 at the expense of the state and local budgets, as well as from other sources not prohibited by law, said Lidiya Karplyuk.
According to her, the air defense group is provided with weapons and ammunition, other military equipment, fuel and lubricants by a military unit of the Territorial Defense Forces or the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the manner established by the Ministry of Defense.
During the defense of the skies, members of air defense groups have the right to use their own vehicles, personal hunting and small arms, other types of weapons, ammunition and equipment, in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1448 of December 29, 2021.
In addition, air defense groups have the right to use technical means (unmanned systems, manned aircraft, visual, optical-electronic or radar surveillance, communications, navigation support) to identify, track, alert or neutralize UAVs used by the aggressor state, received by military units of the Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Such air defense groups will be located within the structure of the DFTO, and the activities of volunteer formations of territorial communities are carried out under the direct leadership and control of the commander of the military unit of the Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a territorial basis, the lawyer emphasized.
Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Will DFTO volunteers receive military status?
Now the initiative to create air defense groups among the participants of the Far Eastern Front requires a clear legal basis, because the current legislation does not provide for full social security or financial support for such volunteers at the level of military personnel, Anna Daniel, a lawyer, managing director of the Anna Daniel Law Firm, and a candidate of legal sciences, told Fakty ICTV .
She explained that according to the current legislation , DFTO volunteers are not military personnel. This information was confirmed by military unit A1155 in response to a request from Fakty ICTV to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
— Membership in the DFTO does not exempt from the obligation to perform compulsory military service/by conscription upon mobilization, in particular in the Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during a special period/by conscription of officers/reservists during a special period (paragraphs 6, 7 of Resolution No. 1449), — the military unit noted.
According to Anna Daniel, during mobilization, territorial defense volunteers who are fit for military service in wartime due to their health and have a military registration specialty are called up, if necessary, to staff military units of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other components of the Defense Forces on a territorial basis.
In addition, the Labor Code of Ukraine does not contain any prescribed guarantees for workers who have joined volunteer formations of territorial communities, military unit A1155 notes.
According to Part 2 of Article 24 of the Law of Ukraine On the Fundamentals of National Resistance, members of the DFTO, during their participation in events to prepare volunteer formations of territorial communities and to carry out territorial defense tasks, are covered by the guarantees of social and legal protection provided for by the Law of Ukraine On the Social and Legal Protection of Military Personnel and Members of Their Families, they added there.
— In order to regulate the legal status of a territorial defense volunteer, the order of the Ministry of Defense dated 03/07/2022 No. 84 On approval of the form of the territorial defense volunteer contract and the territorial defense volunteer certificate, which was registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 03/07/2022, was approved, — the report says.
What is the situation with payments to DFTO volunteers?
Provision of material and technical resources and financing of the activities of volunteer formations are carried out at the expense of the state and local budgets, as well as from other sources not prohibited by the legislation of Ukraine – this is determined by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 1449.
As of today, the procedure for paying wages (incentives) to members of the DFTO at the expense of the state and local budgets is not regulated by legal acts, responded military unit A1155.
It is noted there that the provisions of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of August 30, 2017 No. 704 On the monetary support of military personnel, privates and officers and some other persons and the order of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine of June 7, 2018 No. 260 On approval of the Procedure for the payment of monetary support to military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and some other persons do not apply to members of volunteer formations of territorial communities from the air defense groups.
They only regulate the procedure and conditions for calculating the monetary allowance of the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Therefore, the amount and conditions for paying monetary compensation to members of air defense groups have not been determined at the moment , the military unit notes.
At the same time, the corresponding expenses for the payment of monetary compensation to members of volunteer formations of territorial communities from the air defense groups are not prohibited from being carried out at the expense of local budgets, as noted in the response to a request from ICTV Fakty.
In peacetime, DFTO volunteers do not receive financial support or social guarantees unless appropriate legislative changes are made, Anna Daniel noted.
What documents require changes and who should initiate them
The lawyer listed the legislative changes needed to resolve the situation. This concerns the following documents:
- the Law of Ukraine On the Fundamentals of National Resistance, in which a separate article or section must be introduced that would regulate the activities of volunteers in air defense groups, their subordination and contractual form of service, determining the scope of social guarantees (benefits, insurance and financial support);
- the Law of Ukraine On military duty and military service, which should add a special status for volunteers in the air defense – as persons performing tasks in the conditions of a special period, similar to the volunteer battalions in 2014-2015;
- The Budget Code of Ukraine and the Law on the State Budget, where it is necessary to provide a separate program for financing such formations (monetary support, technical equipment, insurance, etc.).
According to lawyer Anna Daniel, such changes should be initiated by:
- The Cabinet of Ministers is the main developer of legislative initiatives in the field of security;
- The Ministry of Defense is the agency that coordinates territorial defense activities.
- Ministry of Finance – to coordinate financing;
- People's Deputies (the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence) – as the key body that prepares and supports such bills in the Verkhovna Rada.
In order for the volunteers of the State Defense Forces to have social guarantees, they need to be granted the status of persons performing duties under the legal regime of martial law – with rights similar to those of military personnel, the lawyer emphasized.
In addition, it is necessary to conclude contracts with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine or Troops on service under the terms of the Air Defense Forces, even if they are not part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
At the same time, the lawyer proposed to provide a separate legal mechanism for insurance, social protection and benefits, with the possibility of including time served in the GPP in the preferential length of service.
— That is why we need a comprehensive bill now. The initiative should come from the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Defense and be supported by the parliamentary committee on defense issues, — Anna Daniel summarized.
