President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on 19 September defining the legal status, objectives and organization of the Office of the Military Ombudsman, two days after the Verkhovna Rada passed a law authorizing the same. The Ombudsman is tasked with protecting the rights of servicemembers and will hear and address their complaints, resolve disputes between soldiers and their commanders, and carry out inspections to ensure that their human rights are not being violated. Civil society experts have criticized several aspects of the law, including constitutionally questionable rules for appointing staff, unclear guidelines for filing complaints, and long deadlines for investigating and responding to complaints. The law was welcomed in general as a step forward given servicemembers’ acute vulnerability while the country is under invasion. Although the legal framework governing the office was passed recently, Olha Reshetylova was already named as the Ombudsman and has served in the office since December 2024.

Sources: Reanimation Packet of Reforms, President of Ukraine, Ukrainska Pravda, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Pryncyp 

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

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)

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

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

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