The constitutional term of the five-year powers of the current Verkhovna Rada expired in July 2024, but there were no elections and there could not be – Art. 19 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law” directly prohibits the holding of any elections during the period of its validity. This Rada has been working in war conditions longer than in peacetime, as recorded by the Laboratory of Legislative Initiatives.
Moscow insists that the Ukrainian parliament and president (elected three months earlier) have allegedly lost their legitimacy. In a resolution specifically adopted by the Rada in February 2025, deputies established the impossibility of elections in war conditions, clearly indicating that Zelensky’s mandate is also not questioned by the Ukrainian people and parliament.
On May 3, 2022, speaking in the Rada, Zelensky explained why he had not addressed the deputies for 10 weeks since the start of the big war.
“This is not disrespect, but on the contrary – this is great trust in you. You are here, you know what is happening, and you know perfectly well what to do… There is no time for spam, for quarrels and for PR. Today we have one party – Ukraine, one faction – Ukraine, one mono-majority – Ukraine. Everything that does not help or harm it must remain in the past. Just like the hopes of someone who is not here, to sit out somewhere. Today, absence A deputy in the Verkhovna Rada is justified by only two things: his work abroad or in the regions for the sake of the interests of our state, or his death – also for the sake of the interests of the state. The rest are following the Russian ship,” he said.
Fugitives, dead, wanted
Among those who left Ukraine immediately after February 24, 2022, the media mainly named representatives of the already banned OPZZH – Ilya Kiva (later killed in the Russian Federation), Natalya Korolevskaya, Vadim Rabinovich, Tatyana Plachkova. One of the party leaders, Sergei Lyovochkin, missed all the meetings in 2022, but was then seen in the hall.
According to the Chesno movement, at the beginning of 2026, 11 deputies elected in the 9th convocation were officially wanted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs on suspicion of various crimes, four of them were listed as active – Sergei Shakhov, Yaroslav Dubnevich, Artem Dmitruk and Andrey Odarchenko.
Alexander Kunitsky went on a “business trip” to Israel back in 2024 – and did not return. In 2025, the Rada lacked 14 votes to deprive him of his mandate. His fellow party member in “SN” Alexander Dubinsky has been in a pre-trial detention center since the fall of 2023, he is suspected of treason. They also failed to deprive Dubinsky of his mandate.
A number of deputies who were elected in 2019 or received mandates later on the lists have died. Among them, in addition to Kiva (46 years old), are Anton Polyakov (33 years old), Andrey Ivanchuk (50 years old), Oleg Makarov (59 years old), Vladimir Moroz (57 years old), Sergey Shvets (48 years old), Yaroslav Rushchyshyn (57 years old), Igor Kubiv (64 years old).
“The Verkhovna Rada is record small: systemic absenteeism, dozens of suspicions and a reluctance to clear committees of fugitives and defendants in cases have created a dangerous norm – a parliament without a full composition and without real sanctions for inactivity,” stated “Chesno”, summing up the results of 2025.
Record low
As of June 11, the number of current legislators is 392 people – this is a historical minimum for the years of Ukraine’s independence. There were initially 424 of them instead of 450 – in 2019, elections did not take place in 26 majoritarian districts in the Russian-occupied parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
During the convocation, for various reasons, 54 deputies resigned early. Some of them were replaced by new list candidates, but the seats of majoritarians (currently there are 32 of them) will remain vacant until the end of martial law.
According to the official portal of the Verkhovna Rada, today there are 228 deputies in the Servant of the People faction. In December 2025, political scientist (and ex-people's deputy) Borislav Bereza stated that the mono-majority of the presidential party exists “only virtually.” There are now 25 deputies in European Solidarity, one less in Batkivshchyna. “Platform for Life and Peace,” which brought together the majority of former members of the Opposition for Life, has 21 deputies, “Dovira” has 19, “Holos” and “For Maybutne” have 18 each, “Renewal of Ukraine” has 17, and there are currently about 20 non-factional members in the Rada.
Who is the opposition to whom?
EU, Batkivshchyna and Holos are formally considered pro-Ukrainian opposition, but often vote against government bills, for example, those required to comply with the conditions of the International Monetary Fund and for joining the European Union. “Servant of the People” wins critical votes due to the support of “Trust” and “For Maybutne”, as well as “Renewal of Ukraine”, where there are many people’s deputies with a pro-Russian background.
The leaders of the “EU” and “Batkivshchyna”, in addition to joint non-voting, are united by at least two things. First, their leaders were informed of suspicions under serious articles of the Criminal Code.
In April 2025, the head of Eurosolidarity, Petro Poroshenko, officially became a defendant in the “coal case” – he was charged with high treason and facilitating the activities of the terrorist organizations “LPR” and “DPR”. The investigation has been completed and the materials have been submitted to the court.
It looks like the elections are much closer than it seemed. And someone decided to start clearing out competitors
Yulia Tymoshenko is suspected of corruption – on January 13, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office announced that the head of one of the factions gave bribes to deputies (including from SN) for the necessary votes, from $2 thousand to $20 thousand. Tymoshenko claims that the evidence was “compiled”, she was released on bail, the politician faces up to five years in prison.
“It seems that the elections are much closer than it seemed. And someone decided to start clearing out competitors,” she wrote on Facebook after the search.
Activists and the media caught both of them absenteeism: in 2024, Poroshenko missed 65% of the votes. Journalists discovered Tymoshenko in 2022 in Dubai. “Ukrainian Pravda” claims that she lived at the resort for a month, when deputies were formally prohibited from leaving Ukraine.
The “SN” crisis and the role of Budanov
In November, NABU announced an investigation into a large-scale corruption scheme in the energy sector with the possible involvement of current ministers and the co-founder of Kvartal 95, Timur Mindich. On November 19, some people's deputies from the Servant of the People published a statement in which they called for the formation of a new “coalition of national resilience” and “a government without party quotas and behind-the-scenes agreements.”
“We are aware of the significant increase in the threat to the existence of the Ukrainian state,” it said.
On the evening of November 20, Zelensky held a closed meeting with the faction; as a result, sources reported that there are no plans for significant rotations in the Office of the President. But a week later, the head of the OP, Andrei Ermak, was fired, and on January 2, Kirill Budanov, who had previously headed the military intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, was appointed in his place.
Everyone was afraid of Ermak’s wrath – and worked
By the spring, the work of parliament had practically stopped – the voting core in “SN” had been reduced to 110-120 people, deputies simply stopped going to the Rada.
“Previously, the work of “coordinating” different branches of power was carried out by Ermak. Everyone was afraid of his wrath – and at critical moments they gathered and worked. When Ermak was removed, a vacuum of influence formed where there had previously been fear of the “second”,” Ukrainska Pravda quoted one of the faction members.
In addition to “Minditchgate”, the deputies were influenced by the message of suspicion to three deputies in the case of “bribes” from Tymoshenko.
“A bunch of people say: “I’d rather not vote for anything at all, than then NABU will come to me,” the deputies told reporters.
From today it is obvious that it was the arrival of Budanov or other non-public decisions in the Presidential Administration that turned the crisis in the presidential party power. After a personal meeting between Budanova and the faction, the Rada adopted key bills on April 7–8 as part of its obligations to the IMF and the EU.
Mobilization
In March 2026, Zelensky said that every deputy under martial law must either work in parliament or defend the country. This echoes his speech to people’s deputies in May 2022. But now the president used other arguments.
“From the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion, there were deputies who wanted to resign. There may be different desires and different attitudes towards them, but we are in a martial law situation and we need to defend our state. And therefore, people’s deputies will either have to serve in parliament in accordance with Ukrainian legislation, or I am ready to discuss with representatives of parliament a law on amending mobilization so that deputies can go to the front,” he said.
Electoral law expert Alexander Magera called the idea of mobilizing people's deputies “dense populism.” In his opinion, the call of deputies will lead the warring country to collapse.
“Deputy immunity is not a personal privilege, but a guarantee of the independence of the Rada… Tolerate the parliament that you yourself elected. As long as full-scale hostilities and martial law continue, you will not have another, reserve parliament,” he concluded.
