Scandals, ambitions and “legislative provocations” of the most scandalous parliamentarian of the ninth convocation
Maryana Bezuglaya is one of the most controversial figures of the current convocation of the Verkhovna Rada. Her career is full of both legislative achievements and high-profile scandals.
The deputy, who calls herself “a dragon by year of birth and green by vocation,” is known not only for odious initiatives, but also for scandalous polls on social networks. For example, she asked subscribers whether they wished death to people’s deputies, whether they wanted people’s deputies of the current convocation to be in prison, etc.
As deputy chairman of the Committee on National Security, Bezuglaya is trying to introduce initiatives that cause mixed reactions in society. At the same time, the resolutions of fellow deputies to recall Bezugla from her positions in the committee have still not been put to a vote in the session hall.
The “Honestly” movement, within the framework of the special project #Portrait of the People’s Deputy specifically for the “Commander-in-Chief”, based on data from the personal pages of people’s deputies on the parliament’s website, demonstrates what kind of lawmaker the deputy responsible for “communication and supervision” is, what requests she sent, what bills she submitted amendments to, What topics did she raise most often?
The shadow face of political battles
In 2019, Maryana Bezuglaya was elected as a people's deputy of the 9th convocation in the 217th district (Obolonsky district of Kyiv) from the Servant of the People as a non-party member, and in the same year she became a member of the party. During Bezugla’s election campaign, “Greek familyism” was recorded; in particular, campaigners gave T-shirts and caps in exchange for subscribing to Bezugla’s Facebook communities.
In parliament, Bezuglaya serves as deputy chairman of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, and also chairs the subcommittee on democratic civilian oversight and control. In addition, she is a member of several groups on interparliamentary relations with various countries, as well as the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council and is the deputy head of the permanent delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
In 2021, the attention of Ukrainian politicians was focused on the scandal with the “Wagnerites” case. Then Bezuglaya was elected chairman of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada to investigate the failure of a special operation to detain Russian mercenaries.
VSK was created in March 2021 for a period of one year (No. 5243). It is noteworthy that the deputy chairman of this VSK was the people's deputy from the pro-Russian party OPZZh Nestor Shufrich, who is now suspected of treason. After one of the VSK meetings, Maryana Bezuglaya quarreled with activists who were trying to get answers to uncomfortable questions.
As a result, the case against the “Wagnerites” at VSK ended rather ambiguously. After numerous meetings and investigations, the VSK under the leadership of Bezugla was unable to provide convincing answers to key questions that worried the public. The official report of the commission indicated that there was no evidence of leakage of information about the special operation from the Ukrainian side. Then the Verkhovna Rada supported the interim report of the VSK and speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said that the report would be sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the SBU and the State Bureau of Investigation for an appropriate response. Formally, the VSK should have continued to work, because it was only an interim report and the work of the commission was not officially completed. In the end, the Wagner case left more questions than answers.
Bezuglaya achieved the greatest attention to her personality during the full-scale invasion after criticizing the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny. In November 2023, she said that Zaluzhny should resign due to the lack of a plan for the next year. Later she accused Zaluzhny of writing custom articles for The Economist.
Recently, a deputy made a similar message regarding the current Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky. Bezuglaya also called on him to resign. And then she published the message “If I became Minister of Defense.”
At the same time, Deputy Bezuglaya comments not only on matters related to security and defense.
So, in July 2023, she got into a scandal because of statements about the appearance of the director of the Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide, Lesya Gasidzhak. She wrote a post on her Facebook page where she addressed the topic of “visual standards” for this position.
In February 2023, Bezugloy’s party member and head of the subcommittee on state security and defense Fyodor Venislavsky proposed expelling her from the committee. According to the explanatory note, on February 16, Bezuglaya provided the committee with false information about her preliminary approval with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the version of bill No. 4210, prepared for the second reading. This bill proposes, during the period of martial law, to ensure the possibility of appointing a military man as the Minister of Defense of Ukraine without his resignation from service. She could not document her words.
In turn, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, said that the Main Intelligence Directorate does not support bill No. 4210.
Requests, initiatives, amendments
According to the Verkhovna Rada website, during the 9th convocation Bezuglaya registered 24 requests. The most of them were submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers - seven. Bezuglaya submitted her latest requests to the President and the Verkhovna Rada.
The deputy’s request to the president concerned granting the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade the honorary name “Ghost of Kyiv.” And the request to the bodies of the Verkhovna Rada is to take measures to properly organize the work of the Conciliation Council of deputy factions (deputy groups), ensuring transparency and openness of its work.
In addition, during the work of the parliament of this convocation, Bezuglaya made 85 speeches (12 from the floor, 73 from the rostrum).
As a lawmaker, Bezuglaya submitted a number of bills and resolutions during this term of parliament, mainly initiatives on national security and defense. As an author or co-author, Bezuglaya registered a total of 425 initiatives, of which only 178 became operational (42% pass rate).
Maryana Bezuglaya is known, in particular, for her active participation in legislative initiatives relating to national security and defense of the country. One of the most high-profile bills that Bezuglaya submitted to parliament was the initiative to reform the Security Service of Ukraine (No. 3196-d). Instead of actually clearing the intelligence service of dishonest employees, the bill offers only formal recertification. In January 2021, the Rada passed it in the first reading, but due to the full-scale invasion, the bill was never considered in the second reading. It should be noted that a number of human rights activists oppose this bill.
It is noteworthy that the legislative initiatives that were registered after the start of the full-scale invasion gained public resonance and caused a wave of indignation towards Bezugla.
For example, at the beginning of May 2022, a bill was registered on amendments to Article 22-1 of the Charter of the Internal Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to ensure the possibility of terminating criminal offenses under the conditions of a special period (No. 7351).
The initiative proposed removing from the legislation the line that provides for the use of weapons against violators of the charter, “without leading to the death of a serviceman.” We are talking about a soldier's disobedience, resistance or threat to the commander, the use of violence by an army soldier and desertion. The project was then withdrawn.
Separately, we should mention another scandalous bill co-authored by Maryana Bezugla and Galina Tretyakova on the appropriation of state functions, in particular the representation of Ukraine at international events (No. 11104). The initiative, among other things, provided for arrest for 15 years or life and confiscation of property for “appropriation of state functions” during martial law.
Community activists, journalists, lawyers, and citizens have expressed concern about the possible consequences of the law. They urged lawmakers not to support the initiative, pointing out its shortcomings and potential danger to civil rights. Amid criticism and numerous negative reviews, the authors withdrew the bill, and Bezuglaya on her social networks called the initiative a “legislative provocation.”
As for amendments, during the convocation Bezuglaya submitted 896 proposals to 12 bills, of which only 28 were rejected, the rest were taken into account in full, in part or editorially. Bezuglaya submitted the largest number of edits (466) to the draft law on defense procurement (No. 2398-d).
Scandalous figure
The statements and actions of Maryana Bezugla often become the object of lively discussions and are quoted not only by supporters, but also by enemies. Bezugla's political career is filled with resonant moments that have already become an integral part of her public image.
In addition, there is a suspicion that the Presidential Office is using Bezuglaya to probe public sentiment and test reactions to various political initiatives and statements. Quite often, a deputy comes into the spotlight precisely because of harsh statements or unusual proposals or actions that evoke both support and criticism in different political camps.
For example, her message about Syrsky and stories about what and how happened at a meeting of the Rada Committee on National Security Issues are now being actively quoted by the enemy.
Let us remember how Bezuglaya conducted public surveys among her subscribers regarding whether they wished people’s deputies to die, wanted people’s deputies of the current convocation to be in prison, and the like.
Citation of Maryana Bezugla by enemies can have serious consequences for the national security and information stability of Ukraine. After all, the statements of a people's deputy of Ukraine can undermine trust in state institutions, raise doubts about the ability of the authorities to effectively govern the country and thereby put informational pressure on society.
All this creates conditions for destabilizing the situation in the state and intensifying internal conflicts. In addition, by manipulating her words, enemies can create a negative international image of Ukraine, which affects the country’s support from international partners.
At the same time, the question remains rhetorical: why, despite a number of scandals and odious statements, decisions on the dismissal of People’s Deputy Maryana Bezugla from the post of deputy chairman of the defense committee have not yet been considered by parliament.
