According to Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, for the first time ever, Ukrainian law enforcers have discovered chambers that russians had used for the detainment and torture of children in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions. One of the victims, a 14-year-old boy who had been brought in for taking a photo of the destroyed russian military equipment, agreed to testify: he said that the russian occupiers cut his skin with a knife, branded his body with the heated metal, and took him to mock executions.
As over 50% of the consumption of the country’s energy system was lost after the massive russian strike at Ukraine’s energy power infrastructure, Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo was forced to “notify about the occurrence of an emergency.” The emergency was lifted the next day.
That week, in addition to a missile attack, russia undertook several other massive drone attacks, namely on December 14 and on the night of December 18-19, targeting primarily Ukraine’s capital and its outskirts. The attacks caused a severe shortage of electrical power in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, with less than 50% of electricity consumers’ receiving the power. Some of the Kyiv and Kyiv region residents have been left with no electricity at all for more than two days.
According to Radio Freedom, the lower house of russian parliament approved in the first reading a draft law that would decriminalize crimes committed in the occupied territories of Ukraine if they were made to "protect the interests of russia,” as well as of the so-called “DPR,” “LPR,” and the “people and organizations of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions,” which are partially occupied by russian invaders.
On December 13, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech in the Parliament of New Zealand via video link, thanking the country for changing its approach to sanctions specifically to support Ukraine, as well as for the funding for ammunition, humanitarian assistance, and military training. Mr. Zelensky called on New Zealand to back a Global Peace Summit and Ukraine’s 10-point Formula for Peace, and in particular, make a “unique contribution” and address the environmental aspect of Ukraine’s Formula for Peace. “There is no real peace where ecocide has taken place,” concluded Ukraine’s President.
On December 14, the European Parliament adopted a modified regulation allowing the €18 billion support package to be transferred to Ukraine after Hungary had vetoed the original proposal. The agreed-upon funding model allows the 26 EU member states to act as guarantors of the loan as an alternative to the EU budget.
The long-term loan, given on preferential terms but conditional on reforms, will cover essential public services, including running hospitals, schools, and providing housing, as well as help maintain macroeconomic stability and rebuild infrastructure in Ukraine.
At a ceremony in Strasbourg, which took place on December 14, the people of Ukraine, represented by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, human rights lawyer Oleksandra Matviychuk, paramedic Yulia Pajevska (Taira), mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov, State Emergency Services representatives Oleksandr Chekryhin and Stanislav Kulykivskyi, and Yellow Ribbon Civil Resistance Movement representative Yaroslav Bozhko, were awarded the 2022 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, an annual EP award honoring individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Awarding the prize, EP President Roberta Metsola spoke of the courage and sacrifices of the Ukrainian people, reinforcing the EU’s support for Ukraine; President Zelensky, who joined the ceremony via video link, called for support for an international tribunal to bring to justice for the crimes committed by russia.
On December 14, Czech Parliament’s upper house recognized the Soviet starvation of Ukrainians, Holodomor, as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. This was reported by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked the parliamentarians for their decision.
The following day, the European Parliament made a similar recognition, stating that the whitewashing and glorification of the totalitarian Soviet regime and the revival of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s cult has led to russia’s being today a state sponsor of terrorism. MEPs called on all countries and organizations that have not yet done so to follow suit and recognize Holodomor as genocide.
The lower house of the Polish parliament adopted a resolution recognizing russia as a state sponsor of terrorism on December 14. The document emphasizes that russia systematically violates human rights, international law, UN regulations, and several other international obligations, and underscores that the forms of terror that russia uses against Ukrainian citizens are crimes against humanity and genocide.
Earlier, in late October, the Senate of Poland recognized russian authorities as a terrorist regime.
MP, Servant of the People faction, Maksym Dyrdin, was appointed as the new representative of the Verkhovna Rada to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
According to Yaroslav Zheleznyak, MP, Holos faction, draft law 7662 was adopted with 245 votes in favor in the second reading.
According to Yaroslav Zheleznyak, MP, Holos, the law prescribes that the Rada TV channel becomes the state one. Also, the law states that the Rada TV channel should broadcast VRU plenary meetings online. Besides, it should upload the video records on the same day the plenary session takes place during martial law.
According to the Chesno movement, Ruslan Stefanchuk, VRU Speaker, refuses to open the extraordinary session of the VRU to vote on the matter. Speaker notes that the ongoing plenary sessions are in place during martial law in Ukraine.
Public consultations regarding the functioning of the accumulative pension system were held on December 12 based on the Guidebook “Public Consultations in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine” prepared by the RADA Program in 2021. Public consultations facilitated strengthening social dialogue on the issue of the accumulative pension system and will become the platform for further drafting laws in this sphere.
On December 15, the Program assisted the VRU’s Committee on energy in facilitating the round table on the communal energy infrastructure in Ukraine. The meeting occurred in the Lviv region, where 2.5 million people live. The round table strengthened the legislative oversight, as it was dedicated to the restoration of the objects of communal energy infrastructure in the Lviv region that had been damaged as a result of hostilities and brought together 13 MPs, Lviv’s mayor Andriy Sadovyi, the city’s council and ten representatives of city’s and region’s communal services.
On December 15, Program organized public policy and oversight training for 23 members of the Secretariat of the VRU’s Committee on state building, local governance, and regional and urban development. It will help improve VRU’s analytical and oversight capacity and internal processes will become strengthened and enhanced to ensure an end-to-end legislative process within the Committee.
During December 13-16, the Program held job interviews on the vacancies at the PRS. The Program will hire two experts to help PRS in external communication and build international partnerships.
On December 13, the Program presented the analyzed EU directives that the VRU Committee on social policy requested earlier. The research helps the Committee understand which provisions have been implemented into Ukraine’s legislation and which should be implemented soon. The Committee requested to continue the cooperation with Program in that regard and would like to ask for another request with research.
On December 15, Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) conducted a meeting with an MP, Victoria Podhorna, Servant of the People, Head of the sub-group on the Code of Ethics and status of MPs of the Working Group on the preparation of comprehensive proposals for amendments to the laws of Ukraine in the field of parliamentary law, to discuss the Parliamentary Ethics Online Course to be launched.
Based on the study of international standards on ethics-related issues, USAID RADA: Next Generation Program, with the support of the WFD, will develop an e-learning module on parliamentary ethics to work out a common understanding of the Code of Conduct and ethics standards utilizing best international practices and expertise.
The constituency #20 where the lessons were arranged contains almost 160.000 constituents and is represented by MP Viacheslav Rubliov. Overall, the lessons attracted more than one thousand high-school students. Participants learned about the parliament as an institution, its functions, structure and organization of work, MPs' rights and duties, and the legislation process. In addition, participants had an opportunity to communicate with MP Vyacheslav Rubliov directly and ask questions.
MP Olha Koval, Head of the subcommittee on vocational and technical education of the VRU Committee on Education, Science and Innovations, participated and answered the questions from the audience. The course helped the PEC become more institutionalized to ensure its sustainability.
On December 16, the Program facilitated the presentation of the Canadian experience from the parliament and government in law drafting offices’ operation. During the presentation, Mykhailo Tepliuk, Deputy Head of the VRU Secretariat, noted that this experience would be relevant in establishing the Law-Drafting Office within the VRU.
The purpose of the conference is to summarize the results of the first conducted course on civic education, which was completed in partnership with the Parliamentary Education Center; inform on the results of the survey of teachers and heads of centers regarding the peculiarities of the implementation of parliamentary civic education in martial law; introduce the plans and schedule for the training of primary, basic and high school teachers on the course "Our Parliament: We Understand, Research, Influence" for January-March 2023.
Oleksandra Romantsova, NGO "Centre of Public Initiatives," Nobel Peace Prize laureate, will be a special guest at the meeting.