The Rating Group continues to research veteran issues and promote evidence-based public policy in the veteran sphere.

On 23 December 2025, together with the Ukrainian Veterans Fund of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, we presented the results of a new joint study, ‘Problems of War Veterans in Ukraine’ (part of the ‘Portrait of a Veteran 2025’ project). This is a continuation of our history of effective cooperation with the UVF, which has been ongoing since 2022.

In December, Rating Group researchers surveyed 240 defenders of Ukraine about their needs, support programmes, and challenges. As the company's CEO Oleksii Antypovych said during the presentation, Ukrainian veterans' greatest need is for material and medical support. According to the survey, 50% and 43% of veterans indicated this, respectively.

At the same time, a third of veterans feel that society does not give veterans the respect they deserve, and a significant proportion also doubt the effectiveness of state support. Therefore, Oleksii Antypovych emphasises:

"Our defenders are people who risk their lives and health for the sake of everyone, and it is important that society shows its gratitude. Such studies help us understand what kind of support veterans really expect. For example, Ukrainians often think that veterans primarily need free psychological help. And, of course, mental health is extremely important. But our survey shows that veterans also have a huge demand for various forms of material support."

Nataliia Kalmykova, Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, noted the importance of sociological research in shaping state veterans policy, as it reveals the real needs of veterans.

"In particular, through [...] the Ukrainian Veterans Fund of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, we are implementing [veterans] policy — supporting veterans' businesses and community initiatives, as well as conducting systematic research. In the future, we will intensify this work by expanding support tools and relying on data and the real needs of veterans," said Nataliia Kalmykova, Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, about the Rating Group/UVF study.

This was confirmed by Karina Doroshenko, Executive Director of the UVF:

"Our work is based on research. In particular, in 2025, as part of the Varto programme, the Ukrainian Veterans Fund supported 336 projects [...] It is important for us that every figure in our report corresponds to the real needs of veterans," said Karina Doroshenko, Executive Director of the UVF, about the Rating Group/UVF study.

The Rating Group team would like to thank its partners at the Ukrainian Veterans Fund and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs for their cooperation and for the opportunity to help highlight the needs of defenders.

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The results of the study are available at the link.