Key decisions are classified as either harmful (red) or beneficial (green) and are added to the platform in accordance with the methodology.
The REchargeUA project was created as a one-stop platform for civil society advocacy (the “Under Review” section) and as a tool that preserves political memory for voters, enabling them to make informed choices based on legislative voting records and Members of Parliament’s biographies.
Visualizations of voting results by parliamentary factions and groups following landmark votes are generated on the Holka website within one hour after the data becomes available on the Verkhovna Rada website. The platform also visualizes roll-call voting results with MPs’ photographs, including breakdowns by single-member constituencies. This allows regional media outlets, in particular, to quickly inform voters about the actions of representatives elected from their districts.
The distribution of votes among factions and parliamentary groups for all votes is based on MPs’ current factional or group affiliation. This approach ensures that political forces that change their names over time, hoping voters may not retain long-term political memory, cannot shed their political track record and remain politically accountable for the individuals they bring into their teams.
The platform also seeks to foster a new quality of political culture among Members of Parliament. Politicians should take public sentiment into account and actively participate in voting by pressing the “For,” “Against,” or “Abstain” buttons, rather than leaving their voting cards inserted and refraining from voting.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported the prohibition of pro-Russian political parties three months after the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The draft law was submitted by Members of Parliament in March 2022, with Olha Sovhyra as the lead author.
In the same year, more than 10 pro-Russian political parties were banned through court decisions, including OPZZh, the Opposition Bloc, “Nashi,” the Shariy Party, the Communist Party, and others.
On 16 February 2022, several weeks before the full-scale invasion, the parliamentary majority supported a government initiative (No. 0101) which denounced certain agreements concluded within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Verkhovna Rada allowed political parties to temporarily suspend reporting on their income and expenditures. It is important to note that parliamentary parties continued to receive public funding during this period.
The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) stressed that Members of Parliament should have supported the amendment restoring mandatory reporting. However, obligatory financial reporting was only reinstated in 2023.
As a result, the failed vote on this amendment significantly undermined the transparency and accountability of political party financing.
The draft law submitted by the Government was an EU integration–related initiative aimed at reducing and ultimately eliminating industrial pollution. It was designed to require owners of industrial facilities to gradually modernize their operations within clearly defined timelines in accordance with European environmental standards.
However, the parliamentary majority failed even to support the draft law in the first reading.
Eventually, the necessary provisions were later incorporated into the requirements of the Ukraine Facility instrument, and under conditions of full-scale war, Members of Parliament were compelled to vote for their adoption in order to secure continued support from international partners.
Draft law “On the Emerald Network” (No. 4461), initiated by Members of Parliament Yuliia Ovchynnykova, Oleh Bondarenko, Olena Kuryurchukina, and others, was submitted at the end of 2021 as part of Ukraine’s obligations on its path toward European integration.
Ukraine ratified the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats in 1996; however, as of 2026, the Verkhovna Rada has still not adopted legislation to ensure the protection of the Emerald Network—an ecological network of sites of European importance on Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine already has nearly 380 Emerald sites covering around 8% of the country’s territory. These include the Carpathian Mountains, the Bilychianskyi Forest, and the Osokorky area in Kyiv. Due to delays in adopting the law, these environmentally valuable territories remain without sufficient legal protection.
The adoption of the Emerald Network law is intended to implement EU directives on the conservation of wild birds and the protection of natural habitats and wildlife.
The initiative was supported by 200 scientists and 77 scientific institutions. However, during the first reading vote, the draft law failed to secure enough votes: only 199 Members of Parliament supported it.
No votes were cast in favor by members of the “For the Future” group, some of whom are associated with the so-called Kolomoisky group, often accused of lobbying legislation in favor of developers, as well as by the “Batkivshchyna” faction. Members of the OPZZh faction were absent during the vote.
A number of civil society organizations, including the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, Environment People Law, Holka, and Ecoaction, continue to advocate for the adoption of this legislative initiative.
In 2019, the powers of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) were terminated due to the lack of renewal and cleansing of the judiciary. The Commission’s work was effectively paralyzed as a result of political deadlock. This created the need to restore its functioning under new rules.
Draft law No. 3711-d became a compromise between the authorities, civil society, and international partners. It закрепed a decisive role for international experts in the Selection Commission responsible for evaluating candidates to the High Qualification Commission of Judges. The first composition of the Selection Commission included six members—three judges (or retired judges) and three international experts—and their vote became decisive in the event of a tie when selecting HQCJ members.
The importance of the decisive role of international experts in these procedures was also emphasized by international partners and the then-Chair of the Venice Commission, Gianni Buquicchio.
The law was supported in 2021 by 293 Members of Parliament, while amendment No. 453 on the decisive vote of international experts received 255 votes. It entered into force a few months after parliamentary approval.
This became a key stage of judicial reform: it paved the way for the formation of a new High Qualification Commission of Judges, the launch of competitions for thousands of vacant judicial positions, and the restoration of trust in judicial selection. At the same time, the mandate of international experts in the commission was limited to two years after the final formation of the body, which, according to experts, created risks for the sustainability of the reform.
In June 2025, the mandate of the Selection Commission with international experts expired. Therefore, draft law No. 13382 was registered in Parliament, proposing to restore the participation of international experts to ensure the continuity of the Commission’s work and the quality of the selection process.
European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier welcomed Ukraine’s steps toward restoring the independence of anti-corruption institutions and outlined a clear list of next obligations for Ukraine, including the reinstatement of international experts in the Selection Commission for the High Qualification Commission of Judges.
On March 20, a public rally took place near the Office of the President in support of imprisoned activist Serhii Sternenko and Andrii Antonenko, who had been charged in connection with the murder of journalist Pavlo Sheremet.
During the protest, participants painted administrative building walls, threw smoke grenades, and attempted to set fire to a sign reading “President of Ukraine.” One participant allegedly broke the glass of the main entrance door; a veteran was suspected in this act. Police opened proceedings and detained one of the participants. Six activists were served suspicion notices, including activist Roman Ratushnyi. Three other participants received administrative protocols.
The Head of the “Servant of the People” faction, Davyd Arakhamia, together with dozens of other MPs, submitted a parliamentary resolution condemning the actions of the protesters at Bankova Street.
According to the Center for Combating Corruption, the resolution did not address the protesters’ demands, which were linked to concerns about judicial arbitrariness in the country. It also noted that MPs systematically ignored public concerns regarding the appointment of Oleh Tatarov, a former Ministry of Internal Affairs official who, during the Revolution of Dignity, served as Deputy Head of the Main Investigation Department and publicly communicated detentions of protesters and issued ultimatums to them.
On the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity, a group of Members of Parliament, including representatives of the “Holos” faction Oleksandra Ustinova, Serhii Rakhmanin, and Nataliia Pipa, submitted a parliamentary resolution recognizing the Revolution of Dignity as one of the key milestones of Ukrainian state-building.
The document also provided a political assessment of the regime of former President Viktor Yanukovych and emphasized the inadmissibility of delays in investigating Maidan-related cases.
Members of the OPZZh faction did not vote in favor of the resolution. Within the ruling party, MP Maksym Buzhanskyi voted against the initiative.
Across several parliamentary convocations, Members of Parliament repeatedly violated the Constitution of Ukraine by engaging in non-personal voting, when one MP could vote on behalf of others whose voting cards remained inserted in the voting slots. This practice undermined the legitimacy of decisions made by the country’s legislative body.
One of the most notorious cases of proxy voting involved former MP Mykhailo Chechetov of the Party of Regions, who was known for organizing and effectively directing such practices.
After the 2019 parliamentary elections, two MPs from the “Servant of the People” faction were immediately caught engaging in proxy voting. The Head of the faction, Davyd Arakhamia, stated that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the incident with strong disapproval. A week after the incident, MP Ruslan Stefanchuk registered a draft law on the criminalization of proxy voting.
However, even after the adoption of the law, proxy voting did not fully stop. For example, during the appointment of Serhii Shkarlet as Minister of Education and Science, the voting board displayed exactly 226 votes in favor, although MPs present in the chamber claimed that this result was achieved through proxy voting.
The first MP against whom a criminal case was opened as a result of investigative efforts by the civic movement Chesno was majoritarian MP Vladyslav Poliak.
A so-called “sensor button” designed to prevent proxy voting began operating in March 2021, although it had been installed in Parliament as early as 2008. To cast a vote, an MP must simultaneously press and hold buttons with both hands on the voting console until the end of the voting procedure. This technical mechanism makes non-personal voting effectively impossible.
Members of Parliament were expected to abolish parliamentary immunity; however, amendments were introduced to the draft law that effectively strengthened it instead of removing it.
The Center for Combating Corruption emphasized that, under the adopted bill, the Prosecutor General obtains a monopoly over initiating criminal proceedings against MPs. This means that only one person in the country can enter information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, making the initiation of investigations against MPs dependent on the integrity or availability of the Prosecutor General.
Another controversial provision introduced through amendments is the requirement for mandatory presence of an MP during court hearings on investigative motions. These motions may concern, for example, the seizure of assets belonging to a suspected MP. As a result, such assets cannot be seized without prior notification of the MP and their participation in the hearing. Critics warn that this creates opportunities for MPs to transfer assets to relatives overnight to avoid seizure, or to obstruct the seizure of bribes caught in the act.
The initiative was opposed by Transparency International Ukraine.
The parliamentary faction Holos voted against the bill. MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn stated that the initiative effectively cements parliamentary immunity, noting: “We are effectively making the immunity dependent on one person (the Prosecutor General).”
