Russia is interfering with elections in democracies all over the world, resorting to any means, from cyberattacks to direct voter bribery, from sharing disinformation and disrupting society to discrediting candidates who are “unacceptable” for the Russian government. Contrariwise, they support politicians or parties ready to cooperate with the Putin's regime.

We embraced a huge number of challenges that have become the norm, and we have been living in this threatening environment for a long time. Nevertheless, our attitude towards the State is evolving, and so does the State’s attitude towards the society, the people, and an individual.

“At one point even I bought into the idea that we are way too polarized and this is the wrong way to go”, said Olha Aivazovska during presentation of key findings of OPORA’s study “(Dis)connected: Polarization in Ukrainian Society” at the 13th annual Civil Society Development Forum.

Civil Network OPORA strongly condemns the use of violence and human rights abuses during the detention of peaceful protesters in Tbilisi.

Ukraine is updating the electoral law in line with European standards and to account for new challenges. According to Olha Kotsiuruba, a senior legal advisor at the Civil Network OPORA, Ukrainian law needs improvement to align with the EU standards, specifically on campaigning out of the country and on the Internet, and also considering the spread of artificial intelligence and new EU regulations. She shared this during the round table “Campaigning Online and Out-of-Country” on November 26 in Kyiv.

Russian military aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2014, has led to an increase in the number of people with disabilities among both civilians and the military. According to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the number of persons with disabilities increased by 300,000 over the two years of full-scale war and amounted to more than 3 million in June 2024. It should be understood that this number will only grow over time. As a result, Ukraine faces new challenges that have emerged in the area of political participation of the disabled. To identify these problems and find ways of solving them, Civil Network OPORA conducted more than 20 in-depth interviews with leading experts in the field of elections and inclusiveness, and commissioned a sociological survey which was carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. 

In February 2023, the head of the Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said that the Russian Federation is conducting a large-scale disinformation operation called “Maidan-3”. According to GUR, the Kremlin is trying to weaken the AFU on the frontline by discrediting the Ukrainian authorities: it is alleged that illegitimate president and parliament of Ukraine are adopting illegitimate decisions. Indeed, Ukrainians were supposed to re-elect the bodies of state power in the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024, but this did not happen due to statutory ban on holding elections under martial law. Moreover, it is impossible to ensure full exercise of citizens’ right to elect and be elected under conditions of active hostilities and regular missile attacks. Nevertheless, the Kremlin is persistently trying to shake the confidence of Ukrainian citizens and international partners in the governmental authorities of Ukraine.

On Tuesday, November 5, the 8th Ukrainian Women’s Congress took place in Kyiv. It is the annual public platform for gender policy-making. This year, the Congress took place under the slogan “Women’s Potential: New Roles, New Quality.” The discussion “Politics Without Women is a Threat to Democracy” included the Chair of the Board of the Civil Network OPORA, Olga Aivazovska. She believes that Ukraine’s key challenge is to clearly establish where we are and where we aspire to be as a state.