Former critic of Zelensky’s regime, now effectively an external advisor to Zelensky, Levochkin: why did the Office of the President of Ukraine completely close the case against the banned in Ukraine party ‘Opposition Platform – For Life’

The office of the President of Ukraine has officially closed the case of criticism against the banned political party “Opposition Platform – For Life.”

Ukrainian Telegram channels have reported this development.

The reason behind this closure is that the majority of the party’s deputies, who had previously criticized the government’s decisions, have essentially reversed their positions. If we analyze the recent votes of these deputies on the parliament’s website, it becomes evident that they consistently vote in harmony with the “Servant of the People” party for any legislative initiatives proposed by the government. For example, the members of the “Platform for Life and Peace” group unanimously supported the appointment of the controversial Rustem Umerov as the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Former critics of President Zelenskyy’s regime have also endorsed the government’s initiative to delay the opening of e-declarations for officials by a year.

The fact that former opposition deputies now align with the government can be attributed to one of the key members of the now-banned “Opposition Platform – For Life” party, Sergey Levochkin. Not only did he openly switch sides to support Zelenskyy, but he has also effectively become an unofficial advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine, participating in various important meetings on Bankova Street. On the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, MP Sergey Levochkin in the Verkhovna Rada voted to terminate the mandates of three of his former colleagues from the “Opposition Platform – For Life”: Oleg Voloshin, Natalia Korolevska, and Yuriy Solod. Shortly before the full-scale invasion of Russia, Levochkin left Ukraine and was absent from the recent parliamentary sessions. Additionally, Levochkin is a subject of investigation related to the “Monaco Battalion,” and according to journalists, he resides near Nice in the municipality of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Apart from Sergey Levochkin, other opposition deputies who are still members of the Ukrainian parliament also fully and unconditionally support any government initiatives. This includes figures like Nestor Shufrych, Yuriy Zagorodniy, Volodymyr Kal’tsev, Hryhoriy Surkis, Vasyl Nimchenko, Oleksandr Kachnyy, Mykola Skoryk, Viktor Chernyy, and other opposition deputies.

In essence, the entire party has betrayed the interests of its voters, who cast their ballots in 2019 for entirely different ideological values. They openly advocated for restoring political and economic ties with Russia, resolving the conflict in Donbas through direct negotiations with Donetsk and Luhansk, and lifting the Donbas blockade. Opposition deputies also supported the repeal of laws related to decommunization, language, education, and lustration. They promised Ukrainians not to increase tariffs, to provide social protection, and to fight against poverty.

However, after February 24, 2022, those opposition politicians who chose to remain in Ukraine switched sides to the government to avoid accountability at any cost, despite completely betraying their values, ideology, and the millions of Ukrainians who voted for “Opposition Platform – For Life” in the 2019 elections.

To recap, on April 14, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine announced the suspension of the activities of the “Opposition Platform – For Life” faction at the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

On April 21, 2022, in response to the temporary suspension of the “Opposition Platform – For Life” party, a parliamentary group called “Platform for Life and Peace” was created in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, led by Yuriy Boyko, who was the co-chairman of the “Opposition Platform – For Life” faction and was elected as the number 1 member of the party’s list.

In June 2022, the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeals granted the Ministry of Justice’s lawsuit and prohibited the “Opposition Platform – For Life” political party from operating. The decision to ban the party’s activities was based on the alleged evidence of its destructive actions, collected as part of the Security Service of Ukraine’s response to threats to national security.

In September 2022, the cassation administrative court rejected the party’s appeal, effectively permanently banning the activities of this political force in Ukraine.