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Over the last couple of decades, LGBTQ+ rights have gained increasing support in the Ukrainian public.
Amid the war in Ukraine, a court ruling in has quietly set a legal milestone in the war-torn country, which advocates say could influence similar cases in the future.
The original case centered on diplomat Zorian Kis, first secretary at Ukraine’s embassy in Israel, and his partner Tymur Levchuk.
In June 2025, Kyiv’s Desnianskyi District Court recognized their relationship after a dispute involving overseas diplomatic assignments.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry had declined to process Levchuk’s travel as that of a family member, pointing to national legislation defining marriage strictly as a union between a woman and a man.
The court instead relied on the legal concept of de facto marital relations, concluding that the couple’s long-term cohabitation qualified as family life under Ukrainian law.
Challenged by organization
The LGBTQ NGO Insight reported that the Supreme Court dismissed a cassation appeal filed by the civic movement Vsi Razom.
The organization attempted to intervene in the case despite not being directly involved. In its complaint, Vsi Razom cited its charter goal of the “prevention of the legalization of same-sex marriages and partnerships in Ukraine.”
Judges ruled that a group whose rights or obligations are not affected by the outcome cannot challenge the verdict.
As a result, the Supreme Court allowed a lower court’s decision to stand, confirming the couple’s shared life as one family under the legal concept of de facto marital relations.
Not legilization
It is important to note, that the ruling from the supreme court does not mean that same-sex marriage is now legal in Ukraine.
The couple had registered their marriage in the US in 2021, not in Ukraine. According to Euronews, the couple argued that they should be recognized as a family, and thus be given a number of rights families have in Ukraine.
The lower district court agreed on this, which prompted Vsi Razom to bring the case before the supreme court.
Director of Amnesty International Ukraine, Veronika Velch, said in a statement:
“While the decision does not introduce legal recognition of same-sex partnerships in Ukraine, it acknowledges the reality of a family relationship and represents an important step toward strengthening the protection of LGBTG people’s rights.”
LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine
Since Ukraine gained independence following the fall of the Soviet Union, the LGBTQ+ community has still struggled with various challenges, but there is gradual progress regarding equal rights for sexual minorities.
Male homosexuality was made legal in 1991, female homosexuality has never been illegal.
Throughout the 2010’s and 2020’s, positive treatement of LGBTQ+ people has gained increasing support within the Ukrainian society, and in 2022, the Ukrainian parliament passed a media regulation bill that banned hate speech and incitment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Sources: Insight, reporting referenced by Ukrainian courts, The New Voice of Ukraine, Euronews
