Ukrainian social media erupted in September after Svetlana Kryukova, former deputy editor-in-chief of the news website Strana.ua, filed a lawsuit against civil society groups and military activists for insulting her dignity.
Strana.ua has been sanctioned for spreading “pro-Russia propaganda” but still operates as a media outlet in Ukraine. Kryukova disputes the label “pro-Russian,” which the government and others have applied to her and her employer.
The dispute is a reminder of the charged dispute about the phrase and what has happened to the prominent figures in politics, finance, and the arts who have supported Moscow over the years.
Before the full-scale invasion in February 2022, many politicians, journalists, and actors publicly held political positions that could be described as sympathetic toward Russia. The biggest party campaigning for peace with Moscow at all costs, and reinstating good neighborly relations, was called Opposition Platform — For Life (OPFL.)
Even though many saw the party’s program as openly pro-Russian and called for its banning from parliament, it was not erased. The party was indeed banned, but its members simply created a new parliamentary group under the name For Peace and Life.
Yet many politicians elected as part of OPFL now vote with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party, helping him amass the required 50% of votes needed to pass new laws.
That said, not all pro-Russian politicians stuck around. Dozens moved to Russia, and one was elected to the Russian parliament. One was Andrey Derkach, who, according to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, was a Russian spy for more than 10 years.
He is best known for attempting to interfere in the US elections in 2019 by allegedly running massive disinformation campaigns, according to US authorities. Derkach moved to Russia in 2022 and was elected to the Russian parliament in the rigged election of that year.
The wealthy businessman Victor Medvedchuk, who made Vladimir Putin his daughter’s godfather and was famous as one of the leaders of the OPFL, was arrested trying to leave Ukraine in 2022 and was ultimately handed over to Russia in exchange for Ukrainian POWs. He now lives in Russia. Illya Kiva, who moved to Russia not long before the start of the full-scale invasion and praised the war, was reportedly assassinated by Ukrainian intelligence in an affluent village near Moscow.
While moving to Russia was the most logical route for some pro-Russian politicians, others decided to stay in Ukraine and argue they supported their country. Among them was former deputy prime minister Yuriy Boyko, a frequent guest in Moscow before the full-scale invasion and the OPFL candidate for president.
Boyko, who holds a Hero of Ukraine award, has supported “patriotic laws” in parliament, such as the removal of state awards from people charged with high treason.
Another group of politicians seen as pro-Russian moved to Europe. Among them were Artem Dmytruk, an MP famous for his defense of the Moscow church in Ukraine, who left hours before the Security Service put him on the wanted list. He is currently in London fighting an extradition request from the Ukrainian government. Sergey Liovochkin, another leader of the OPFL, is reported to be living on the French Riviera.
These and other cases sparked waves of criticism from Ukrainians, who scolded the security services for working too slowly and letting Russian sympathizers leave without facing the consequences of their alleged actions.
Even though a handful of Russian-leaning politicians has ended up in jail for espionage, civil society is constantly berating the police and the government. It accuses them of covering up for colleagues who held Russia-friendly views before the invasion.
Parliamentary data shows that former Russian sympathizers have become a reliable pro-government voting bloc supporting government proposals, something made critical by splits in the Zelenskyy legislative faction, which have caused it to lose its majority in the chamber.
OPFL lawmakers provide just enough votes for the government to pass new laws and appoint ministers. The head of the President’s party, Olena Shuliak, has described such cooperation as “constructive,” but civil society activists are outraged.
They argue that a state of limbo in which the President’s party is reliant on such people is dangerous given their previous positions.
But finding who is an opportunist and who truly experienced an epiphany after the full-scale invasion is a complicated process. It leads to philosophical discussions about morality, which risk derailing policymaking and the daily work of parliamentary politics.
The issue is, of course, broader than just parliament. There were and remain Ukrainians who see Russia as the mother country even after 31 months of all-out war. Ukrainian troops near the frontline call them the zhduny, or “the waiting ones,” and note their willingness to await occupation by the invading army.
As for the MPs, some pro-Russian politicians do appear to have converted to the national cause, while others did not and opted for lives in Europe, Russia, and elsewhere. Many have thrived, posing challenging questions for the Ukrainian Security Service.
Mykyta Vorobiov is a Ukrainian political adviser, journalist and political science student at Bard College Berlin. For the last two years, he has been developing articles on politics and law for CEPA, VoxEurop, JURIST and others.
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions expressed on Europe’s Edge are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
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