Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
What happened to the former members of the pro-Russian OPZZh party and its offshoots that went underground?
Formed in 2019 and the second-largest faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Opposition Platform — For Life ceased to exist in May of last year.
However, as of now most of its former members continue to serve as people's deputies of Ukraine and as representatives of 2 newly created political forces. In addition, former members of the OPZZh faction today are part of the 21 committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Read details about the fate of the “former” OPZZh members in the new research from the YouControl R&D center.
Timeline of events after 24 February
March. The first person to leave the OPZZh faction after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, or more precisely to be expelled from the faction, was Illia Kiva. On 15 March he was deprived of his mandate as a people's deputy of Ukraine.
On the same day, deputies Tetyana Plachkova, Oleksandr Feldman, Ihor Abramovych and Vadym Stolar left the faction. On 19 March the NSDC suspended the activities of the OPZZh party for the duration of martial law due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And at the end of the month another 5 deputies left the faction: Valerii Hnatenko, Ihor Kisiliov, Oleksandr Lukashov, Volodymyr Moroz, Nataliia Prykhodko.
April. The activities of the like-named OPZZh faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine were suspended.
May. The OPZZh faction officially ceased to exist.
June. The Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal banned the activities of the OPZZh political party and ruled to transfer the party’s property and funds to the state.
September. The Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine dismissed the OPZZh party’s appeal and permanently banned its activities on the territory of Ukraine.
PZMJ and “Restoration of Ukraine” replacing OPZZh
In April 2022 it became known that 25 deputies from the OPZZh faction joined the newly formed deputy group “Platform for Life and Peace” (hereafter PZMJ). The head of the group became Yurii Boyko. In July Yurii Pavlenko joined the group. In particular, the PZMJ deputy group included the married couple Nataliia Korolevska and Yurii Solod, Nestor Shufrych, Hryhorii Surkis, Oleksandr Ponomariov, Serhii and Yuliia Liovochkin. The latter in late November 2022 prematurely relinquished her mandate in the VRU.
In the second half of May 2022 another deputy group was created — “Restoration of Ukraine,” which included 12 former members of the OPZZh faction. The co-chair of the group became Ihor Abramovych, and among its members were well-known business figures — Vadym Stolar and Oleksandr Feldman.
What about the other former OPZZh deputies?
Former OPZZh members, aside from Illia Kiva and those who joined the newly created deputy groups, joined the ranks of non-affiliated deputies: Viktor Medvedchuk, Taras Kozak, Renat Kuzmin, Vadym Rabinovych and Fedir Khrystenko.
At the beginning of November 2022 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine prematurely terminated the powers of people's deputy Vadym Rabinovych. And in January 2023 Ukrainian citizenship was revoked for Viktor Medvedchuk, Taras Kozak and Renat Kuzmin and they were deprived of their VRU mandates.
Fedir Khrystenko remained among the non-affiliated deputies; at the same time he was absent from all sessions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during the period from June to December 2022.
21 committee with the participation of former OPZZh members
YouControl analysts, based on analysis of sources made public under martial law (the VRU website, VRU committee websites, media publications), found that former members of the OPZZh faction today are part of the 21 committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Thus, deputies, most of whom until recently actively promoted pro-Russian rhetoric, not only continue political activity but are also people who have real influence on the adoption of important state decisions.
The largest numerical presence of former OPZZh deputies (3 and more persons) is in:
Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy: Ihor Abramovych, Oleksandr Lukashev, Antonina Slavytska, Mykola Skoryk and Yurii Solod;
Committee on Budget Issues: Vitalii Bort, Valerii Hnatenko, Serhii Dunaiev and Oleksandr Kachnyi;
Committee on Energy and Housing and Communal Services: Yulii Ioffe, Ihor Kisiliov and Volodymyr Moroz;
Committee on Rules of Procedure, Deputy Ethics and Organization of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: Yurii Zahorodnii, Mykhailo Papiiev and Nataliia Prykhodko;
Committee on State Building, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning: Dmytro Isaienko, Volodymyr Kaltsiev and Tetyana Plachkova.
VRU committees that include 2 representatives of the former OPZZh faction:
Committee on Law Enforcement Activities: Hryhorii Mamka, Suto Mamoyan;
Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy: Vadym Stolar, Fedir Khrystenko;
Committee on Legal Policy: Vasyl Nimchenko, Oleksandr Puzanov;
Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management: Oleksandr Feldman, Viktor Chornyi.
In all other committees there is one people's deputy from the former OPZZh faction. In particular:
Serhii Liovochkin is a member of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence;
Nestor Shufrych chairs the Committee on Freedom of Speech. His colleague on the committee, Tetyana Tsyba, and the “Rukh Chesno” movement have already emphasized that Shufrych should step down as committee chair, but in December 2022 he stated that he did not intend to voluntarily leave the committee leadership position.
Hryhorii Surkis is secretary of the Committee on Youth and Sports. In November 2022 he, together with his faction colleague Nestor Shufrych, left the composition of the National Olympic Committee.
Anatolii Burmich is a member of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy.
According to published voting result data on bills, the attendance of former OPZZh faction members at VRU sessions during the period June–December 2022 is hard to call satisfactory. The biggest “truants”—those absent for 100% or more of VRU sessions—were: Ihor Abramovych, Nataliia Korolevska, Yurii Solod, Fedir Khrystenko, Oleh Voloshyn, Oleksandr Ponomariov, Vadym Stolar, as well as now-deprived-of-mandates Taras Kozak, Vadym Rabinovych, Renat Kuzmin and Viktor Medvedchuk. Most of the deputies listed above were also absent from VRU sessions from the start of the full-scale invasion through May 2022 inclusive.
What’s the bottom line?
Despite the cessation of the pro-Russian OPZZh faction, most of its former members continue to serve as people's deputies of Ukraine and as members of 2 newly formed deputy groups. Representatives of these groups are members of strategically important VRU committees in the context of the war with Russia, and influence formation, consideration and adoption of laws. In other words, they have real access to critical information and influence changes in legislation and the shaping of the political agenda.
Also, the OPZZh “successors” — the PZMJ and “Restoration of Ukraine” deputy groups — include a significant number of business representatives. Thus, a significant number of people's deputies who hold VRU mandates and are former members of the OPZZh faction are connected to so-called FPGs or groups of companies identified in the YouControl system (for example AVEK, the Liovochkin family group, Yurii Boyko’s group, Nestor Shufrych’s group, and others).
Recall that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the state has restricted access to critically important public registers. In particular, restricted access to the EDR and the complete closure of access to the Unified State Register of Declarations makes it extremely difficult to detect ties between former representatives of the pro-Russian OPZZh and the aggressor country. It also prevents tracking evidence of their involvement in new businesses that they could potentially influence through their deputy activities.
Thus, critically important data about the ties and activities of former OPZZh members and current members of PZMJ and “Restoration of Ukraine” are truly unknown. Given OPZZh’s pro-Russian narratives over the years, one can only imagine the level of potential threat posed by its “offspring” and the harm to the state today.
Source: YouControl
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Що з колишніми членами проросійської партії ОПЗЖ та її потомством, що зачаїлося?". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.