At its meeting on May 22, the Verkhovna Rada created a Temporary Commission of Inquiry to control the expenditure of budget funds on the construction of fortifications and barriers on the contact line.
A separate task of the commission should also be to control the use of funds for the manufacture and purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles
However, the formation of this VSK was not without scandals. According to the text of the draft resolution, the commission should have included two deputies elected from the now banned pro-Russian party OPZZH - Vitaly Bort (now in the PZZHM group) and Anatoly Burmich (now in the “Restoration of Ukraine” group). Both people's deputies are included in the Register of Traitors. This situation outraged society, because figures who had repeatedly expressed pro-Russian views, even after a full-scale invasion, spread pro-Russian narratives about “external control”, would have access to information about the fortification and defense of Ukraine.
It is noteworthy that not a single people’s deputy of the groups OPZZH and “Restoration of Ukraine” voted “for” the creation of the VSK. The vast majority of these people's deputies received cards from working slots during voting and the system displayed the result “did not vote” and “absent.” Only Burmich, who became a member of the commission, “abstained.”
Subsequently, the chairman of the commission from the Servant of the People, Nikolai Zadorozhny, said that Bort would still be excluded from the working group. His place should be taken by Dmitry Razumkov, who is now non-factional.
However, for now, the formal composition of the VSK remains without quantitative changes - 15 deputies.
Let us note that the statement about the expulsion of deputies from the OPZZH from the VSK was a consequence of the reaction to the indignation of representatives of the opposition and society. Before the vote for the creation of the VSK, one of the leaders of the banned pro-Russian Opportunity for Life, Yuri Boyko, took the floor and, to the calls of “Shame!” announced the withdrawal of the candidacy of Vitaly Bort from his group. In addition, Boyko allegedly stated about pressure on parliament and the “capture” of the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada by representatives of the opposition:
“Yesterday we witnessed an aggressive minority in this room create pressure on the majority to make their own political decisions. First, it was a provocation in the speaker’s reception room, then there was an illegal seizure of the parliament’s presidium, which in today’s situation is absolutely unacceptable. As soon as there is pressure on people and on parliament, this is an unacceptable thing. And therefore, our group is withdrawing the candidacy of a representative to the so-called VSK for fortification, because this is just political PR, without searching for the truth.”
But another scandalous people’s deputy, Anatoly Burmich, who denied the aggression of the Russian Federation and said that “the United States caused the war “so that Ukrainians would hate the Russians, and Europe would quarrel with Russia,” even during the vote for the resolution stated that “everything has already been worked out, let’s work and don’t waste time on unnecessary commissions.” This position of the people’s deputy from the banned pro-Russian party may once again indicate a lack of interest and motivation to work as part of the commission to protect the interests of the Ukrainian state.
The parliament’s decision to include representatives of the banned pro-Russian party OPZZH in the VSK on issues of Ukraine’s defense capability has once again updated the discussion about the inadmissibility of admitting politicians who have been representatives of Russian interests for many years in a row can influence the work on the rules of life for Ukraine and Ukrainians. In addition, they will continue to be involved in the formation of state policy regarding the features of military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and much more.
Now pro-Russian people's deputies in the Verkhovna Rada are doing everything to remain at least in some form in the political system of Ukraine and further influence policy formation. Despite all the turbulence of recent years, they, unfortunately, managed to maintain their status in the political system, presence in the media and public spheres, positions at the parliamentary level and high state awards. And in order to change this, it is not necessary to discuss new legislation for deprivation of mandates for years. At the very least, there must be political will to remove pro-Russian politicians from political influence and a consistent position of the Ukrainian authorities.
For the third year now, parliament has been trying to develop a legislative framework that would make it impossible for pro-Russian politicians to influence the country’s political system. Key questions that need to be resolved: how to get rid of pro-Russian deputies who are already in the councils, and how to prevent pro-Russian politicians from participating in future elections? There are already a dozen bills addressing the first issue. Even the Cabinet of Ministers joined in developing the legislative framework, but not a single decision was finally made.
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After this, Ukrainians have already given a clear answer regarding how they see the future of such politicians. The results of a social survey commissioned by the HONEST Movement indicate that only 1% of citizens consider it advisable to allow deputies of such parties to serve until the end of their term.
Public tension around the formation of the VSK for fortifications and drones was once again highlighted by the Ukrainians’ request to cleanse the government of pro-Russian forces. At the same time, despite a significant number of initiatives, the parliament has not yet made a single decision.
Such delay is already having consequences, because, for example, it was precisely because of the significant “amendment spam” of the authorship of pro-Russian people’s deputies and the attempt to stop consideration due to filing applications with the Venice Commission of the bill banning religious organizations associated with the aggressor country of the Russian Federation (No. 8371) has been in limbo for a long time.
