Ukraine
On 21 April 2019, the presidential runoff was won by comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky. He defeated incumbent President Petro Poroshenko with a landslide, gaining 73 percent of the votes. Zelensky’s role in the popular television series “Servant of the People” has become reality, as he plays a teacher-turned-president that goes on to wipe out corruption and fight against oligarchs. For a majority of the people, this refers to the political establishment personified, in this election, by Poroshenko, and the government’s failure to end corruption over the years.
Zelensky dissolved the parliament on 21 May 2019 to bring forward the parliamentary elections. He did this in an attempt to gain a majority in parliament which would be needed to pass legislation. With approximately 43.14 percent of the votes, Zelensky’s Servant of the People party was the winner of the election. The party, only founded in 2018, is pro-European and pro-NATO but is other than that quite broad and undefined in its ideology. President Zelensky became Ukraine’s first president since the fall of the Soviet-Union, to rule the parliament with a single majority. However, the low voting turn-out is also historic: only 49.9 percent of the population cast a vote.
In March 2020 Zelensky replaced the prime minister, giving Denis Shmyhal the position after then prime-minister Oleksiy Honcharuk resigned. The president hoped the new prime-minister could "do the impossible" and turn Ukraine's economy around as well as prepare for other reforms. Honcharuk had once before handed in his resignation after a recording of him was leaked of what appeared to be him criticising Zelensky's economic policy. He handed in his resignation days later to "remove any doubts" about his government's respect for Zelensky. However, Zelensky refused to accept the resignation because he wanted to give Honcharuk and his government another chance.
Meanwhile, the conflict in eastern Ukraine remains, with shelling and skirmishes still occurring regularly. The crisis began in 2013, with protests against President Yanukovych’s decision to reject a deal for greater economic integration with the EU. The protests escalated after a harsh police crackdown, leading to President Yanukovych fleeing the country. In 2014 a local referendum was held where citizens of Crimea voted to separate from Ukraine and join Russia. However, this referendum is not recognized as legitimate by the Ukrainian government or the wider international community. Nevertheless, in response, Russian troops took control of the Crimean region and annexed the area. The crisis has heightened ethnic tensions in the area, and violent clashes have become prevalent. The Minsk Accords were agreed on to enforce a cease-fire in 2015, but violent clashes still occur regularly and efforts to reach a lasting diplomatic settlement have so far been unsuccessful.
On February 24, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine after months of high tension on the border. Immediately, in various cities, fighting between parties erupted. Russia commenced an attack from the north, at the Belarussian-Ukrainian border, to reach Kyiv. In the south, forces from Crimea attacked the cities of Melitopol and Cherson. From the eastern border, Sumy and Charkiv are shelled. The city of Mariupol is also a scene of heavy fighting, as Russian forces want to connect the Crimea and Donetsk through land.
660,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countriess as of March 1, 2022. The humanitarian situation seems to be grave, especially as Russian forces shell and bombard city centres, violating international humanitarian law.
In support, western countries have provided military, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. However, its armies refrain from joining the conflict, as Ukraine is not a part of NATO. President Zelensky has repeatedly wished for the imposement of a no-fly zone, and his desire to join the EU and NATO in the near future.
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Short facts
- Population:
- 44,134,693 (World Bank 2020 est.)
- Governmental Type:
- Republic
- Ruling Coalition:
- One party: Servant of the People
- Last Elections:
- 25 October 2020 (Parliamentary elections)
- Next Elections:
- October 2023 (Parliamentary elections)
- Sister Parties:
- Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (SDPU)
Political Situation
Political system
Ukraine has a parliamentary presidential system, which means that on a national level the country elects a head of state, the president, and a legislature. The president is directly elected by the people for a five-year term. The president needs a majority of the votes in the first round to be elected. Otherwise, a second round is held, in which the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round can compete.
The parliament (Verkhovna Rada) has 450 members, elected for a four-year term. Until 2005, half of the members were elected by proportional representation and the other half by single-mandate constituencies. Starting with the 2006 parliamentary election, all 450 members were elected by proportional representation, but after a change under Yanukovich’s presidency in 2011, the parallel system of proportional representation and single-member constituencies was restored. From that moment on, candidates were to be elected through party lists or self-nomination.
The constitution prescribes that the governmental parties must have a majority in parliament. Thus, minority coalitions are formally not an option for government coalitions. Representative bodies and heads of local government throughout Ukraine are elected simultaneously with the Verkhovna Rada.
Political situation
When Zelensky ran for president, one of his campaign promises was to tackle the widespread corruption and influence of oligarchs. In this respect, the election results were seen as a victory over the old elites ruling the country alongside oligarchs. But as OSCE and other reports show, oligarchs were heavily involved in the campaigns. Most notably as media coverage is particularly unfairly distributed: it was largely dictated by business and political interests. This did not ensure equal coverage for all the candidates. President Zelensky himself has business ties to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, owner of 1+1, one of Ukraine’s most popular TV channels, which had always broadcasted his shows and has given Zelensky a powerful platform. On the day before the presidential elections, the channel was filled with shows by comedian Zelensky. In order to improve political neutrality, a new law was adopted to limit the influence of oligarchs on national politics in September 2021. The legislation will prevent wealthy individuals from funding political parties or taking part in the privatization of state assets and major companies. Furthermore, the bill requires Ukrainian citizens to register as oligarchs if they own significant financial assets and media outlets. The law also requires senior state officials to declare any dealings with oligarchs.
On October 25, 2020, Ukraine held local elections, viewed by some as a mid-term referendum for Zelensky’s political party. The local elections were held under a new electoral code that decentralized power from Kyiv to local governing bodies. Major changes included a four-time decrease in the number of local councils, the introduction of a proportional system in communities with more than 10,000 voters, and a 40% gender quota on candidate lists. The gender quota caused quite a stir among the political parties, as they quickly had to look for more women candidates. Old politicians often regrouped into new local parties in preparation for the elections, quitting well-known party brands.
Zelensky’s Servant of the People party did not manage to integrate local politicians, and the results showed it. The president’s party performed particularly poorly, while the pro-Kremlin Opposition Platform-For Life party did comparatively well. Across the country, national parties proved themselves incapable of overcoming the local parties of individual city mayors. These results showed a welcome to the decentralization of politics and a slow weakening of the centre.
International political issues
On November 21, 2013, a small protest broke out after President Yanukovych abandoned a trade agreement with the European Union, favouring closer ties with Russia. Online videos of police beating protesters later at night sparked a much larger outrage throughout the country, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets within days, dubbed as the Maidan protest. The Maidan protests resulted in pro-EU protesters occupying the Maidan square and taking control of government buildings for months. Eventually, clashes between pro-EU protesters and the police resulted in an apogee on 18 February 2014, when over 70 protesters were killed. In the political turmoil that followed, President Yanukovich fled the country to Russia. In the weeks that followed, pro-Russian protests broke out in eastern Ukraine and the southern province of Crimea. Pro-Russian and Russian forces took control of government buildings and strategic military complexes in the Crimea on February 27, increasing tensions between Ukraine and Russia. On the 16th of March 2014, the Crimea joined Russia through a referendum in which an overwhelming majority voted in favour of Russia. The result of the referendum was not recognized internationally. Both the EU and US governments argue that the referendum violates both the Ukrainian constitution and international law. The Ukrainian constitution requires that any changes to the territory of Ukraine be approved by a referendum of all of the Ukrainian people. This requirement is consistent with general principles of international law, which respects the territorial integrity of states. A right of secession by a group or region in a country is not recognized unless the group or region has been denied the right to internal self-determination or has been subject to grave human rights violations by the central government. Crimea does not suffer this, and therefore, the outcome of the referendum is not recognized by international law. Russia nevertheless says it had to protect its Russian citizens in Crimea,
In the months following the annexation of the Crimea by Russia, the conflict reached a climax. Malaysia Airlines plane MH17 was shot down above eastern Ukrainian territory, killing all 298 passengers on board. The event sparked international outrage and triggered the close involvement of the international community. The European Union, the United States and other countries intensified sanctions on pro-Russian separatists and Russia. Meanwhile, the provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk declared themselves independent from Ukraine on September 11th, 2014. On September 6 2014, both parties agreed to a ceasefire in the capital of Belarus, Minsk.
This so-called Minsk I ceasefire was violated continuously and got out of control in January 2015. In February, Ukraine, Lugansk, Donetsk and Russia agreed to the Minsk II accords, and a new ceasefire was born. However, this ceasefire was violated intensively in the first week when pro-Russian separatists opened an offensive on the strategic city of Debaltseve, which eventually led to their victory when the Ukrainian army retreated from the area. After this offensive, both parties seem to abide by the Minsk II accords, although fighting remains an every-day activity.
Sanctions on eastern Ukraine and Russia remain.
Political Rights and Civil Liberties
According to the NGO Freedom House, Ukraine is viewed as ‘partly free’, though this status does not reflect the conditions in the occupied Ukrainian territories. Corruption is still widespread in the country, and efforts to combat it have met resistance.
In Ukraine distrust remains high regarding the judiciary. The country has long suffered from corrupt and politicized courts. Individuals with financial resources and political influence can often escape wrongdoing, and a disproportionate number of those facing trial are in pretrial detention. Efforts to reform the judiciary have so far met significant resistance.
In late 2020, the Constitutional Court annulled vigorous anticorruption legislation. As a reaction, President Zelensky attempted to dissolve the Court, though this did not actually take place. Instead, the parliament passed new, weakened legislation replacing the annulled anticorruption measures. In July 2021, Ukrainian parliament backed legislation to relaunch the deeply compromised High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) and the High Council of Justice (HCJ). From then on, both Ukrainian and independent international experts would participate in the future selection process for judicial vacancies. However, the judiciary opposed the reforms, and refused to appoint experts to participate in the process. This refusal threatens to derail the promise of real judicial reform in Ukraine.
Regarding media, Ukraine has a mixed landscape. While there is a law on media ownership transparency, the media landscape is under the strong influence of oligarchs, limiting diversity and giving the oligarchs political influence. The overall media landscape therefore lacks objectivity and is “divided along political lines”, concentrated in the hands of a few owners. Furthermore, attacks against journalists and civil society activists are prevalent, while police response is often inadequate.
Human Rights and Gender Equality
Human rights in Ukraine continue to be affected by the armed conflict in the east and the COVID-19 pandemic. The conflict not only threatens civilian’s physical safety, but also limits their access to food, medicines, adequate housing, and schools. Travel restrictions, imposed by both the Russia-backed armed groups and the Ukrainian government, have had a devastating impact on social and economic rights, driving civilians deeper into poverty. Women are particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as they account for over 80% of Ukraine’s healthcare and social workers, and domestic violence cases have increased.
Other than the effects of COVID-19. Gender inequality in Ukraine also takes other forms. Gender inequality is prevalent in political participation (women hold 21% of the seats in parliament), participation in managerial positions (23% of the management positions are held by women), and the gender pay gap (women earn on average 23% less than men). According to Freedom House, rights groups have reported that employers openly discriminate on the basis of gender and age.
According to the law, minorities such as Roma and LGBT+ people are officially protected in Ukraine, though violence against these groups continues to be a major problem. Anti-LGBT+ attacks remain prevalent, and perpetrators almost always get away with it. Both Roma and LGBT+ people and groups generally only receive police protection or justice for attacks against them when there is intense pressure from civil society or international actors. In these cases, human rights are still under pressure.
Elections
Parliamentary elections
On May 20th 2019, the day of his inauguration, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his intention to dissolve parliament and call early elections. On that day the presidential decree set the elections for July 21, 2019, and Zelensky dissolved parliament because the current coalition didn’t have the support of the majority of the parliament. 62 MPs filed a constitutional challenge against the decree, but the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of early elections on the 20th of June. After the election results were published, it became clear that the president’s party, Servant of the People, won a majority. The party won 254 seats out of 424, thereby enabling it to form a government without a coalition. For the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, one party could control the cabinet of ministers, the office of the president and parliament on its own. Many consider the victory of Zelensky to be the result of disappointment in the previous government and the continuous power of oligarchs in Ukrainian society.
Campaign
The OSCE reported that during the campaigning period contestants were able to freely convey their messages to the electorate. The campaign was seen as competitive with a huge amount of candidates representing a wide spectrum of political options. Despite this, vote-buying remained widespread in many regions of the country, especially in single-vote mandate districts. The National police initiated over 125 criminal investigations concerning vote-buying. On top of that, several incumbent MPs and mayors, who stood as candidates, often misused their incumbency by promising and providing benefits to voters.
Election results 2019
Due to the war in eastern Ukraine elections couldn’t be held in 26 different constituencies, and as a result, 26 out of 450 seats were left vacant. With all votes counted, the Central Election Commission (CEC) showed five parties passing the 5 per cent threshold, thus entering the Ukrainian Parliament (Rada). Voter turnout was historically low with only 49.9 per cent of the population casting their vote.
Party |
Seats party lists* |
Seats constituencies** |
Total |
% |
Servant of the People |
124 |
130 |
254 |
43.16 % |
Opposition Platform — For Life |
37 |
6 |
43 |
13,05 % |
Fatherland |
24 |
2 |
26 |
8,08 % |
European Solidarity |
23 |
2 |
25 |
8,10 % |
Holos (Voice) |
17 |
3 |
20 |
5,84 % |
Opposition Bloc |
- |
6 |
6 |
3,03 % |
All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" |
- |
1 |
1 |
2,15 % |
Self Reliance |
- |
1 |
1 |
0,62 % |
United centre |
- |
1 |
1 |
- |
Bila Tserkva Together |
- |
1 |
1 |
- |
Independent single constituencies |
- |
46 |
46 |
10,85 |
* Proportional lists
** Single-mandate constituencies
The elections resulted in a major win for Zelensky’s Servant of the People, along with which three new political parties entered the Rada, namely Opposition Platform - For Life, European Solidarity and Holos (Voice). Opposition Platform consists of former members from its predecessor For Life, Opposition Bloc Ukraine Forward! and Ukrainian Choice. The party is openly pro-Russian and anti-EU. European Solidarity is essentially a rebranding of “Poroshenko Bloc” and aims to continue Porsohenko’s political agenda. Holos is founded by singer Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, who presents himself as anti-establishment and is considered to be a Liberal, pro-EU and pro-NATO. Thanks to Servant of the People and Holos, 80 percent of MPs are newcomers. Furthermore, the average age of MPs has gone down from 48 to 41 years compared to the previous parliament. A record number of 87 women entered the Rada as a result of the elections, making up 19.3 per cent of the total number of deputies. This is a significant increase from 2014 when 11.1 per cent of the parliament was made up of women.
Presidential elections
On 21 April 2019 the presidential runoff was won by comedian and frontrunner Volodymyr Zelensky. He defeated incumbent President Petro Poroshenko with 73 percent of the votes. Poroshenko got 25 percent of the votes. The turnout of the votes was just over 62 percent. On 31 March 2019, the first round of presidential elections was held in Ukraine. Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky then already enjoyed the majority, namely 30.23 percent, of the votes. Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko was second with 15.95 percent, followed by Bativshchyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko with 13.38 percent.
Frontrunner Zelensky, 41 years old, is best known for his role in the political comedy series Servant of the People where he plays a teacher that becomes president of Ukraine through some extraordinary circumstances and proceeds to fight corruption and shake up the political system. During his anti-establishment campaign, he mocked his political rivals with jokes, sketches and other performances. Zelensky promised that, if elected, he will fight against corruption and for reforms. Moreover, he promised to address and implement peace talks for eastern Ukraine. He also wanted to implement a new law on ‘People’s Rule’ to establish referendums where Ukrainians could express their expectations for the authorities. More than 35 million people were eligible to vote in the first round.
Election results
Candidate |
Party |
First-round |
Second round |
|||
Votes |
% |
Votes |
% |
|||
|
Volodymyr Zelensky |
Servant of the People |
5,714,034 |
30.24 |
13,541,528 |
73.22 |
|
Petro Poroshenko |
Independent |
3,014,609 |
15.95 |
4,522,320 |
24.45 |
|
Yulia Tymoshenko |
Fatherland |
2,532,452 |
13.40 |
|
|
|
Yuriy Boyko |
Independent |
2,206,216 |
11.67 |
||
|
Anatoliy Hrytsenko |
Civil Position |
1,306,450 |
6.91 |
||
|
Ihor Smeshko |
Independent |
1,141,332 |
6.04 |
||
|
Oleh Lyashko |
Radical Party |
1,036,003 |
5.48 |
||
|
Oleksandr Vilkul |
Opposition Bloc |
784,274 |
4.15 |
||
|
Ruslan Koshulynskyi |
Svoboda |
307,244 |
1.62 |
||
|
Yuri Tymoshenko |
Independent |
117,693 |
0.62 |
Political parties
Other Parties

Servant of the People
Party Leader: Volodymyr Zelenskiy
Number of seats: 254

Opposition Platform — For Life
Party Leader: Yuriy Boyko
Number of seats: 43
https://https://www.platform.org.ua/

Batkyvschina (All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" (incl. United Opposition)
Party Leader: Yulia Tymoshenko
Number of seats: 26

European Solidarity
Party Leader: Petro Poroshenko
Number of seats: 25

Holos (Voice)
Party Leader: Svyatoslav Vakarchuk
Number of seats: 20
https://https://goloszmin.org/

Opposition Bloc
Party Leader: Evgeny Murayev
Number of seats: 6

All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda"
Party Leader: Oleh Tyahnybok
Number of seats: 6

Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR )
Party Leader: Vitali Klitschko
Biographies

Yulia Tymoshenko
Leader of Batkyvschina (All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" (incl. United Opposition)
Read biographyHeadlines
Sources
- BBC
- Central Election Commission
- Central Europe Review
- Chernobyl.info
- Committee to protect Journalists
- Economist
- Election World.org
- EU External Relations
- EU Institute for Security Studies
- Freedom House – Nations in Transit 2005
- Glavred info
- Government Portal
- Guardian
- International Herald Tribune
- Liga
- Kmu
- Korrespondent
- Kyiv Post
- Mirror Weekly
- NATO – Ukraine
- OSCE/ ODIHR Election Reports
- Rada portal
- Reuters
- RFE/RL
- Rian
- The Guardian
- The Telegraph
- Transitions Online
- Ukrainian Government Portal
- UA Monitor
- Ukraine info
- Ukrainian Monitor
- Ukrainian Weekly
- Ukrayinska Pravda
- Unian News from Ukraine
- US Department of State