Roma soldiers fighting for Ukraine face significant barriers in accessing compensation and recognition, due to a lack of official documentation and language issues. Viktor Ilchak, a Roma father of four from Uzhhorod, volunteered for the army in 2015 despite being exempt from mobilisation. He served for a decade, was wounded four times, and received medals including the Order for Courage from President Zelenskyy. He now plans to establish the first Roma veterans' association in Ukraine.
Ukraine's Roma community is one of the country's most disadvantaged ethnic minorities. Many lack identity documents, which prevents them from accessing basic services and full citizenship rights. Myroslav Horvat, the only Roma councillor in Uzhhorod, estimates up to 30,000 Roma in the region are paperless. The government does not collect ethnicity data on soldiers, making it difficult to determine how many Roma are serving.
Families of fallen soldiers are entitled to 15 million hryvnia (about £250,000) in compensation, but Roma families often struggle to claim it. Soldiers rarely write wills, and kinship ties are not always reflected in official documents. In one case, Marianna Eötvös's brother-in-law, Yevhen Varady, was killed in action, but his family could not obtain compensation because his surname was misspelled as 'Varody' in his ID card.
Lawyer Roman Bigunets notes that mistakes in Roma documents are common, raising questions about systemic discrimination. Pilot projects are now underway to issue documents to paperless Roma, as part of Ukraine's EU accession talks, which require improved treatment of ethnic minorities. However, for now, many Roma veterans and their families remain without the recognition and support they deserve.
