125,000 Ukrainians settle in the Chernobyl zone during the war for state benefits

Source: Forbes Ukraina

The Feb.24 invasion saw thousands of peopl moving house to  the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone as it allowed them to claim monthly government payments, which cost Ukraine’s budget some 15 billion hryvnias annually.

Since 2022, courts have been granting benefits to individuals registered in the radiation-contaminated zone, even if they lack official status as victims of the Chernobyl disaster or liquidators. This has led to a startling surge in benefit recipients—from 10,000 to 135,400.

Law enforcement discovered cases where people deliberately registered in the zone, often in abandoned buildings, with dozens of individuals often listed in a single apartment.

Deputy Minister of Social Policy Daryna Marchak said the benefit issue is putting a serious strain on the country’s financesthe financial strain.

To address the problem, the 2025 budget includes a provision restricting payments to individuals who resided in the Chernobyl zone between 1986 and 1993.