The number of parliamentarians has reached a historic low due to the absence not only of conscientious objectors, but also of those behind bars or under investigation. It is likely that the “deputy fall” will continue.
Dmitry Shpenov decided to get rid of his mandate as a people's deputy. He served in parliament of four convocations. He was elected to the current composition of the Verkhovna Rada from majority constituency No. 37 (part of the city of Krivoy Rog, Apostolovsky, Krivoy Rog, Sofievsky and Shirokovsky districts of the Dnepropetrovsk region). Here Shpenov won three times. As a people's deputy, he is best known for authoring the law on a referendum, adopted during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych. In April 2018, the Constitutional Court declared this law unconstitutional. Like the entire “Regionals” faction, on January 16, 2014, he voted for dictatorial laws. Shpenov is considered an ally of Alexander Vilkul and, together with him, a figure included in the orbit of influence of Rinat Akhmetov. In the current term, this people's deputy has been a fairly active legislator. However, as in previous cadences, it is not too public.
Obviously, the “deputy fall” will continue. The reasons given for the resignation of people's representatives are different. Or, as in the case of Shpenov, they are not indicated at all. Some people consider this process to be a self-purification of parliament, since the vast majority of “refuseniks” are followed by a trail of scandals. In addition, these are mostly former “regionals”. Others reasonably note: MPs are mostly abandoned by majoritarians who simply abandon their voters during the war. Since by-elections in the districts cannot be held, the Verkhovna Rada must stop this trend and not approve applications for resignation. If they are elected, let them work.
How many parliament members resigned during the war?
The constitutional composition of the Ukrainian parliament is 450 deputies. However, according to the results of the early elections in 2019, there were 27 vacant seats in the Rada. Deputies were not elected because the territories of these districts were under temporary occupation. After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, the ranks of people's deputies began to thin out.
Most of those who resigned at their own request, the second largest group, are those deprived of Ukrainian citizenship and, accordingly, the status of people's deputy. Two elected officials died: the traitor Alexey Kovalev, elected from the “servants of the people,” was liquidated in the occupied Kherson region, and Andrey Ivanchuk, a majoritarian from the Ivano-Frankivsk region, passed away, as the media reported, as a result of a blood clot. Another deputy, Dmitry Lubinets, elected in Volnovakha, temporarily occupied since 2022, received the post of ombudsman.
As of the end of October, the number of people's deputies was 404 people. However, in November the process of abandoning mandates resumed. First, Vitaly Danilov from Batkivshchyna wrote a letter of resignation. The reasons for this step were not advertised. However, if at the next meeting of the Rada Danilov’s colleagues agree to let him go, someone from the list of Yulia Tymoshenko’s party will receive the mandate instead. That is, this will not affect the size of the Rada. But the departure of the above-mentioned Dmitry Shpenov and another majoritarian, Maxim Efimov, who announced his intention to resign from parliament on December 1, will reduce the composition of parliament to 402 people. Efimov, by the way, was a defendant in the investigation into the “Monaco battalion.” And in 2019, he became famous thanks to the acquisition (formally the buyer was the politician’s mother) of the Parkovy convention and exhibition center in the capital, where Yanukovych’s helipad is located. And where the Servant of the People party held its meetings.
Let us briefly recall everyone who, for one reason or another, lost their mandate after February 24, 2022. As a result of the deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship, six are no longer deputies: Putin’s godfather Viktor Medvedchuk, detained and later exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners of “Azov”, Vadim Rabinovich, who fled to Israel before the war, Medvedchuk’s comrade-in-arms Taras Kozak, Andrey Derkach, Renat Kuzmin. In addition to these odious pro-Russian figures, the list also includes Igor Vasilkovsky, a “servant” majoritarian from the Odessa region (139th electoral district). Some of them received mandates on the list of the “Opposition Platform - For Life.” The activities of this party are prohibited, so it cannot bring other deputies into parliament to replace those deprived of their mandates.
Next - those who voluntarily resigned. The majority are former members of the OPZZH. These figures mostly fled Ukraine before the Russian invasion. The first of them to lose his mandate was Ilya Kiva. In the first days of March 2022, he was suspected of high treason, and in November of this year he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In absentia, because he is hiding in Russia.
In 2022, Yulia Levochkina (explaining this due to family circumstances) and two majoritarians - a lobbyist for the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Vadim Novinsky (elected in Mariupol) and Dmitry Shentsev (elected by residents of the Chuguev region, Kharkov region) also resigned. The first explained: he believes that “in the new dramatic circumstances that arose after the occupation of Mariupol,” it will be more effective not in politics, but in the humanitarian and social spheres. It is unknown where Novinsky is now. The media reported that he was seen both in Russia and in Europe. In December last year, sanctions were imposed on him in Ukraine; in April, part of his property was seized by a court decision. The SBU suspects him under Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code (aiding the aggressor state). As for Shentsev, he explained the resignation of his mandate by “complicated family circumstances that do not allow him to be at work in parliament.”
In January of this year, four people wrote statements about their resignation: Natalya Korolevskaya and her husband Yuri Solod, Oleg Voloshin, also suspected of treason. Andrey Aksenov became fourth in this company. A Russian passport was found on this figure long before the war; Aksenov’s separatist sentiments were also known, but the relevant authorities allowed him to run for the Verkhovna Rada in the by-elections in district No. 50. By the way, the candidate of the Shariy Party, Valentin Rybin, came second with a significant margin; the third was the candidate from Eurosolidarity, Yulia Kuzmenko, suspected of alleged involvement in the assassination attempt on journalist Sheremet.
In February, Kharkov resident Igor Abramovich (he was called one of the initiators of the formation in the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Renewal of Ukraine deputy group, the backbone of which was formed by former members of the banned OPZZH) and the notorious “servant of the people” Alexander Trukhin resigned. In July, Tatyana Plachkova, another representative of the OPZH, resigned. Officially - for family reasons. After this, there were 404 deputies. Because of the number that means “page not found,” wits even mocked the people’s deputies.
They not only lost mandates, but also received...
But the refusal of people’s deputies to renounce the burden of power did not always reduce their numbers - instead of some, those who probably did not even hope to ever receive a mandate entered the Rada. In addition to the mentioned deputies, during the full-scale invasion, “servants of the people” Nikolai Solsky (became Minister of Agricultural Policy), Andrei Kostin (appointed Prosecutor General), Olga Sovgirya (switched to work in the Constitutional Court), Andrei Kholodov and Yuri Aristov voluntarily left the Verkhovna Rada. It is known about Kholodov that he went abroad before the war and did not return. This figure was involved in several anti-corruption investigations. As for Aristov, he lost his mandate, so to speak, voluntarily and forcibly, after he vacationed in the Maldives. Instead of Kholodov, Nikolai Tararin, a lawyer associated with Kvartal 95, sat in the deputy chair, and Natalya Laktionova replaced Aristov. The media call her the sister of presidential assistant Maria Levchenko. Also, instead of General Mikhail Zabrodsky, who refused the mandate of a people’s deputy and went to work at the General Staff, Irina Nikorak, who had previously been a deputy of the Kiev City Council, entered parliament on the Eurosolidarity list. And in “Golos”, instead of the current Minister of Defense, and at that time head of the State Property Fund Rustem Umerov, Maxim Khlapuk received a mandate in October 2022.
Thus, over almost two years of war, 28 people lost their mandate as Verkhovna Rada deputy for various reasons, and if Danilov, Efimov and Shpenov are released into free sailing, there will be 31 of them. And if the resignation of mandates by majoritarians who cannot be replaced continues, the Rada will soon will cross the border with 400 “bayonets”.
Who else may be left without a seat in the Rada?
Nestor Shufrich , Alexander Dubinsky and Alexander Ponomarev are in pre-trial detention on suspicion of treason . For now they remain people's deputies. The charges they are charged with are serious, and if the investigation has solid evidence, they will not delay court hearings. If convicted, they will be stripped of their powers. In addition to those in the pre-trial detention center, a whole group of people's representatives came to the attention of the investigative authorities and intelligence services. These are Viktor Myalik, Yaroslav Dubnevich, Sergey Labazyuk, Dmitry Isaenko, Vadim Stolar, current “servants” Sergey Nagornyak, Sergey Kuzminykh, former Alexander Yurchenko, Anatoly Gunko , Andrey Odarchenko. These are mainly majority shareholders or former members of the OPZZH.
However, even if for various reasons they leave parliament, this will not be critical for the current parliamentary composition. Three hundred, that is, a constitutional majority, is still a long way off. In addition, a mono-majority, albeit formally, exists. It is unlikely that higher powers will allow its ranks to become shallow to the point of obscenity. The only significant risk remains the cessation of the existence of deputy groups, which are the support of the “servants”. Their minimum composition should be 17 people. Now the groups “Dovira”, “For the Future”, “Renewal of Ukraine” are hanging by a thread. Especially the last two. Thus, after the official departure of the co-chairman of “Renewal of Ukraine” Efimov, the group will disappear. Or someone from outside the faction will transfer there to save one “crutch” of the mono-Bolsheviks. Or another exile from the presidential faction. But in general, even in a state of half-life, the current composition of the Rada will survive to the end. After all, for the vast majority of current mandate holders, this is their last cadence. Because of the war, no one can predict the exact timing of completion.
