Ukraine
Ukraine exhibits mid-range performance in three categories of the Global State of Democracy framework (Representation, Rights and Participation), but it performs in the low range in Rule of Law. It is among the world’s top 25 per cent of countries in Civil Society but is among the bottom 25 per cent in Civic Engagement. Over the last five years, Ukraine has experienced significant declines in Elected Government and Civil Liberties. A lower-middle-income country, Ukraine is a major producer of metals and agricultural goods. However, emigration is a serious issue, and between 15 and 25 per cent of the country’s pre-war labour force was estimated to be employed abroad.
Ukraine’s current political landscape is dominated by the ongoing Russian war of aggression, which began in February 2022. The war has prompted a surge of refugee outflows and internal displacement.
Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has commonly been characterized as having a “pro-Russian” versus “pro-Western” cleavage, but these terms are reductive. Although ethnicity, language, social class, and geography are strong drivers of the country’s political cleavages, they have not cleanly or consistently divided Ukraine into a Russophone, Slavicizing east and a Ukrainian-speaking, Europhile west. Together, ethnic Russians and Ukrainians make up over 90 percent of the population, with Belarusians, Moldovans, and Crimean Tatars making up the largest remaining minorities.
In practice, ethnic and linguistic boundaries in Ukraine are blurred, bilingualism is near-universal, and large swathes of rural and suburban Ukraine rely on a Ukrainian-Russian creole known as surzhyk. Arguments over the relative status of the Russian and Ukrainian languages has been a frequent rallying point in national politics, but this discourse is often a proxy for other concerns about unemployment, inequality, the distribution of national resources, and corruption. The 2014 Euromaidan Revolution and the 2022 invasion triggered an ongoing renegotiation of Ukraine’s sense of national identity, the outcome of which remains uncertain.
In pre-war Ukraine, the controversial handling of reforms of judicial, electoral, and anti-corruption institutions were a driving political force. Broad-based efforts to improve the everyday functioning of government and fight corruption had been hampered by the often-countervailing force of strong patrimonial structures centred around powerful oligarchs or local power brokers. These oligarchs dominated the state and economy for nearly all of Ukraine’s independent history, only losing ground following the full-scale Russian invasion.
Ukraine has been categorized as high performing and one of the top 25 globally in Gender Equality since 2019. While Ukrainians with positive views of LGBTQIA+ people and women’s rights remain a small minority, some research indicates that the strong connection of traditional patriarchal values and open homophobia with the Russian state has contributed to a decline in the public acceptance of these values in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion. Nevertheless, existinggender inequalities have been exacerbated by the Russian invasion, with women experiencing greater economic, physical, and psychosocial inequality than men. Civil Liberties and Free Political Parties have declined in recent years, reflecting bans on pro-Russian political parties and restrictions on movement that are part of the government’s wartime defence efforts. They may or may not be indicative of the country’s future post-war development. The short- and long-term democratic trajectory of Ukraine will be heavily influenced by the outcome of the ongoing war and the nature of its final settlement.
Updated: May 2025
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
July 2025
New law allows for dual citizenship
On 3 July, President Volodymr Zelenskyy signed a bill allowing dual citizenship into law. The move was part of a ten-part ‘resilience’ plan put forward by Zelenskyy in November 2024 to both strengthen Ukraine’s connections with its large diaspora and allow Ukrainian refugees and expatriates to naturalize in their countries of residence without necessitating renouncing their Ukrainian citizenship. The law would allow the over 5 million Ukrainian wartime refugees and estimated 20 million members of the preexisting diaspora to obtain citizenship in their country of residence without giving up their Ukrainian citizenship and right to vote. The law will also simplify and streamline the process of citizenship acquisition for ethnic Ukrainians abroad who may not have a direct relationship with the country.
Sources: Kyiv Independent, Interfax-Ukraine, UNHCR
Parliament backtracks on corruption law but concerns remain
The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) overwhelmingly passed a law on 22 July that subordinated key functions of two anticorruption bodies to the prosecutor general, significantly undermining their independence. Domestic and international critics said the law was pushed by the President’s office as part of an effort to shield key allies of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from investigation. The law sparked the largest anti-government street protests and sharpest international criticism from allies since the full-scale Russian invasion began. On 31 July, the Rada, reportedly again acting on instructions from the President’s office, unanimously voted to repeal the law. While welcoming the law’s swift repeal, civil society and legal experts warned that concerns remain over the government’s commitment to anti-corruption and rule of law reforms, as well as parliament’s ability to oversee the executive or exercise its power independently.
Sources: Human Rights Watch, Novaya Gazeta Europe, Kyiv Independent (1), Kyiv Independent (2), Kyiv Independent (3)
June 2025
District court recognizes same-sex couple as a family
A court ruling in Ukraine recognized a same-sex couple as a legal family for the first time on 10 June, setting a major legal precedent in a country where LGBTQIA+ rights lack significant de jure protections. The Desniansky District Court in Kyiv ruled in favor of Ukrainian diplomat Zoryan Kis and against his employer, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, which had refused to acknowledge Kis’s partner Tymur Levchuk as his spouse when he was posted to Ukraine’s diplomatic mission to Israel. Kis and Levchuk have cohabitated since 2013 and married in the United States in 2021. The court ruling cited both European Court of Human Rights decisions on same-sex marriage as well as rights guaranteed in the Ukrainian Constitution. The ruling only concerns the affected parties, but provides a key precedent for establishing broader legal recognition of LGBTQIA+ families in Ukrainian law.
Sources: Kyiv Independent, New Voice of Ukraine
Vice Prime Minister charged in corruption case
Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov was charged with abuse of office and receiving illicit benefits on 23 June, making him the highest-ranking sitting official to face corruption-related charges. Chernyshov is accused of undervaluing publicly owned land between 2020 and 2022 in his former role as Minister for Communities and Territories and thereby selling properties to private developers at a discount. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau alleges that Chernyshov and others received discounted apartment buildings in exchange for worth over UAH 14.5 million (USD 350,000) and the cost to public finances was UAH 1 billion (USD 24 million). Chernyshov, considered a close ally of President Volodymr Zelenskyy, has been banned from leaving the country and ordered to pay UAH 120 million (USD 3 million) in bail while the investigation continues.
Sources: Kyiv Independent, Bloomberg, Ukrainian News
January 2025
Defense scandal puts focus on good governance
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau opened a criminal investigation into Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on 28 January to determine whether the minister illegally abused his authority by rejecting the contract renewal of the head of the Defense Procurement Agency (AOZ) and replacing two supervisory board members. The dispute is the culmination of a year-long dispute between Umerov and AOZ over the speed and transparency of arms purchases and adherence to bureaucratic governance standards. While AOZ has struggled with corruption and failed arms purchases under successive directors, the Defense Ministry has also been the subject of public controversy for similar issues throughout the war, and there is little support for the legality of Umerov’s latest moves against AOZ leadership. The investigation signals a long conflict within the Ukrainian government between balancing efficiency in delivering necessary public goods while adhering to bureaucratic and legal standards and preventing corruption.
Sources: Ukrainska Pravda, Kyiv Independent, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Reuters
October 2024
Ukrainska Pravda claims state pressure
The editorial board of the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda accused the Ukrainian president’s office on 9 October of intentionally obstructing its reporting and attempting to prevent state officials of speaking with its journalists. In its statement, Ukrainska Pravda also alleged that the president’s office had successfully pressured advertisers not to cooperate with the newspaper in an effort to deprive it of revenue. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the newspaper of undermining his administration at the behest of his political rivals. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on the administration to end any pressure on Ukrainska Pravda. The official accused of orchestrating the pressure, communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, did not respond to Ukrainska Pravda or CPJ but denied the allegations in an interview with the media outlet Liga.net.
Sources: Ukrainska Pravda, Kyiv Independent, Detektor Media, Liga.net
Draft dodging scandal leads to prosecutor’s resignation
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin resigned on 22 October, taking responsibility for revelations that dozens of prosecutors and other civil servants under his administration had arranged to be falsely classified as ‘disabled’ as a means of avoiding military conscription. Officials in Khmelnytskyi Oblast reportedly falsified documents in exchange for cash, and investigators reportedly recovered USD 6 million in cash when searching the regional Medical and Social Expertise Commissions office. The scandal comes as Ukraine continues to struggle to meet military recruitment goals and assure Western officials that the country’s anti-corruption drive is making gains.
Sources: Reuters, New Voice of Ukraine, Censor.net
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