11.2%, or 643 out of 5,729 local oblast, district, and city council representatives, are fighting on the frontline. The data doesn’t include local representatives from Ukraine’s biggest Presidential Servant of the People, which refused to provide data, recommending “to change the methodology of calculation.” The data also doesn’t include some representatives of minor parties, researching only the nine biggest parties.
The research was conducted by Ukraine’s Chesno NGO, monitoring elections and the work of local representatives and national MPs in Ukraine since 2011.
According to the research, over 600 representatives of Ukraine’s regional, district, and city councils are serving in Ukraine’s army, including data only from the seven biggest parties without the biggest Servan of the People party and Holos party, which refused to provide data. Servant of the People claimed that the research needs to be more representative by including also representatives of the lowest level — those of municipalities.
Ukraine’s populist left-center “Radical Party” (РПЛ) has the smallest number of representatives in the local councils but the largest share of them on the frontline — 31% (22 out of 71) representatives. The second also relatively small conservative “Freedom”(Свобода) party has 26% (104 out of 406) representatives on the frontline. The third goes the main oppositional and second-popular “European Solidarity,”(ЄС) with 14% of representatives (328 out of 2,394) on the frontline. At the same time, European Solidarity and Freedom have the highest number of representatives killed in action.
“It is beneficial for Russia to launch a narrative that deputies do not serve but instead sit behind the backs of citizens. However, as research by the CHESNO Movement shows, a large number of local council deputies are now at the front, along with others defending the sovereignty of our state. It is important that the parties appreciate this contribution and help the public sector to highlight the achievements of colleagues at the front,” emphasizes Vita Dumanska, the leader of the CHESNO Movement.
