"Deputies Can't Take It Anymore": Yuzhanina Described How Air Raid Alarms Paralyze Rada Work

"Deputies Can't Take It Anymore": Yuzhanina Described How Air Raid Alarms Paralyze Rada Work

Members of parliament are having difficulty working in the Verkhovna Rada due to regular air raid alarms in Kyiv. Because of this, lawmakers are considering relocating plenary sessions to another location.

According to MP Nina Yuzhanina, under these conditions elected representatives are unable to pass laws. She said this in an interview with Ukrainian journalists.

The lawmaker said she supports the idea of moving the Rada's plenary sessions to another location. She did not specify whether the parliament should be moved out of Kyiv entirely or whether a more suitable site should be found within the capital.

Yuzhanina also explained that the regular air raid alarms in Kyiv severely affect the productivity of MPs. She gave an example when, after 3-4 alarms, no one remains in parliament because the elected representatives "can't take it."

"I recently heard that the issue of moving the venue for Verkhovna Rada sessions is being considered, but not about relocating the Rada elsewhere. I agree with that. The Verkhovna Rada can't meet once a week, and as soon as the session starts we go down to the shelter, and this happens 4 or 3 times a day. Laws are not reviewed, nothing is adopted. People can't take it, no one understands how long this can go on, and there is nobody left in the Verkhovna Rada after the alarm ends," the MP said.

Recently MP Mykyta Poturaiev, who had planned to resign his mandate but changed his mind, complained that due to the regular shelling of Kyiv the Verkhovna Rada cannot function normally. According to the lawmaker, sometimes deputies manage to pass only one law in a single session. For this reason, he said it is worth considering relocating the work of the Verkhovna Rada to a "safe place."

MP Iryna Herashchenko criticized the practice of canceling sessions, pointing out that the Office of the President, the Cabinet of Ministers, and other agencies continue to operate in the same government quarter, going to shelters only during alarms. In her view, parliament should not take "days off" because of hypothetical attacks when the whole country is working under constant threats.

MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak noted that preventive cancellations or shortening of the Rada's agenda often occur on days when no critically important laws are on the docket, so the issues are simply postponed to the next plenary week. He also drew attention to problems with discipline and deputies' attendance on alarm days.