This weekend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suspended all actions of 11 political parties opposed to his ruling party, Servant of the People, claiming they were engaged in pro-Russia activities and would be dealt with harshly.
Zelensky made the announcement in a statement last night “with the backing of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council,” according to The Gateway Pundit.
The ban is set to remain in place so long as Ukraine remains under martial law, which was declared on February 24 as Russia launched its invasion of the country.
According to Euromaidan Press, which is affiliated with the 2013 protests that sparked the U.S.-backed coup that saw Zelensky’s party ascend to power, the parties Zelensky banned are accused of being pro-Russia.
They include the Opposition Platform, Shariy’s Party, Nashi, Opposition Bloc, Socialist Party, Left Opposition, Union of Left Forces, and Derzhava, among others.
⚡Ukraine's RNBO suspends activities of pro-🇷🇺 political parties for the time of the war, Zelenskyy informs:
🔹Opposition Platform-For Life
🔹Shariy's Party
🔹Nashi
🔹Opposition Bloc
🔹Socialist Party
🔹Left Opposition
🔹Union of Left Forces
🔹Derzhava & others— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) March 20, 2022
“The activities of those politicians aimed at division or collusion will not succeed, but will receive a harsh response,” Zelensky said, as reported by National Review. The Ukrainian leader added that the Justice Ministry of Ukraine will enforce the decision.
The political party ban comes after a similar move last week, when Zelensky banned three broadcast networks from the country, alleging that they were airing Russian propaganda.
Opposition Platform-For Life was Ukraine’s second-largest party in parliament, and actually expelled a member from the party for supporting Russia’s invasion, according to The Gateway Pundit.
No members of the party voted against martial law, and the party supported a separate measure “criminalizing collaboration” with Russia.
“To put this in perspective, OPFL has 43 seats in Ukraine’s parliament,” wrote Cassandra Fairbanks for The Gateway Pundit. “They represent millions of citizens and are particularly favored in eastern Ukraine.”
There are a total of 450 seats in the Ukrainian parliament.
Some in the West celebrated the move as an attempt to preserve national unity amid an invasion considered unprecedented in modern times, while others characterized it as a power grab usually associated with dictatorships.
The move comes after Zelensky angered current and former Israeli politicians with his virtual speech before that country’s governing body.
Zelensky was slammed for comparing Russia’s invasion to Adolf Hitler’s Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were systematically murdered by Nazis.
Some Israelis noted that a portion of those Jews were killed in concentration camps built in Ukraine, and that some Ukrainians actively fought for the Nazis after their country was invaded in 1941 as part of Operation Barbarossa.
Russia invaded Ukraine last month after a years long standoff over the disputed Donbass region. Russia claims it launched a “special military operation” to protect ethnic Russians from Ukrainian state violence, while Ukraine and most of the international community say Russia’s concerns were without merit and the invasion was unprovoked.
