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Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU or KPU) is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 and claimed to be the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine, which had been banned in 1991. In 2002 it held a "unification" congress when both "old and new" parties merged. The party is a member of the Moscow-based Union of Communist Parties, an umbrella organisation for all communist parties of the former Soviet Union. The party has been led by Petro Symonenko since it was founded.
Communist parties have a long history in Ukraine. With the fall of the Soviet Union, members of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine formed the Socialist Party of Ukraine. After being revived in 1993, the Communist Party was represented in the Ukrainian parliament from 1994 until the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, which ended a period of parliamentary representation for communists stretching back to 1918. The Communist Party and its predecessor were the largest party in Ukrainian parliamentary elections for the first eight years of free and fair election, from 1990 until 1998.
According to Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko, by the 2010s the party had "degenerated into a conservative and pro-Russian rather than pro-working class grouping, gradually losing its voters and membership".
During the 2013–2014 Euromaidan protests, the party voted for anti-protest laws. However, it also voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office in the Revolution of Dignity. During the Russo-Ukrainian War which followed, the Security Service of Ukraine said the party was actively helping pro-Russian separatists and Russian proxy forces, which it denied. Regional party cells formed the pro-separatist Communist Party of the Donetsk People's Republic. In May 2015, Ukraine banned Soviet communist symbols. Because of these laws, and the Communist Party's support for Donbas separatists, the party was barred from standing in elections. In December 2015, the Communist Party was banned, for actions "aimed at violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, collaboration with Russian proxy forces, and inciting ethnic hatred". The party appealed the ban to the European Court of Human Rights and various Ukrainian courts, and participated in some elections by joining umbrella groups and running candidates as independents. The Central Election Commission of Ukraine prohibited Symonenko's candidacy for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.
Party officials reportedly supported the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a result, its ban was upheld and its assets were seized by the state in July 2022.
The KPU considers itself to be the direct successor to the original Communist Party of Ukraine, a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) which was founded on 5 July 1918 in Moscow. The original communist party existed until 30 August 1991, when the CPSU and its branch in Ukraine were banned. Between 1991 and 1993, several small communist organizations were created throughout Ukraine. "Without clear legality", communists from all over Ukraine convened on 6 March 1993 for the All-Ukrainian Conference for Communists in an attempt to reestablish the KPU. In reaction, the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) legalized the establishment of communist parties two months later. On 19 June 1993, the 1st Congress of the newly founded KPU was convened. Officially, it was designated as the 29th Congress to denote it as a direct successor to the Soviet KPU and it elected Petro Symonenko as First Secretary.
In the 1994 presidential election, the KPU supported the candidacy of Oleksandr Moroz from the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU). The relationship between the KPU and SPU was strong throughout the 1990s, with Moroz even speaking to the 22nd KPU Congress (held in 1999).
In the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party gained 24.65% of the vote and 123 seats, becoming the largest party in Parliament. The first ten members on the party list were Petro Symonenko (MP), Omelian Parubok (MP), Anatoliy Nalyvaiko (tunneler of the Karl Marks Mine (Yenakieve)), Borys Oliynyk (MP), Valeria Zaklunna-Myronenko (actress of the Lesya Ukrainka Theater (Kyiv)), Adam Martynyuk (the 2nd secretary of the Central Committee of CPU), Anatoliy Draholyuntsev (mechanic-electrician at Luhanskteplovoz), Vasyl Sirenko (Koretsky Institute of State and Law (NANU), unaffiliated), Borys Molchanov (tool craftsman at Dniproshyna) and Anatoliy Strohov (pensioner). The KPU won 121 seats, constituting 19.5% of the seats in the Verkhovna Rada.
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Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU or KPU) is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 and claimed to be the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine, which had been banned in 1991. In 2002 it held a "unification" congress when both "old and new" parties merged. The party is a member of the Moscow-based Union of Communist Parties, an umbrella organisation for all communist parties of the former Soviet Union. The party has been led by Petro Symonenko since it was founded.
Communist parties have a long history in Ukraine. With the fall of the Soviet Union, members of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine formed the Socialist Party of Ukraine. After being revived in 1993, the Communist Party was represented in the Ukrainian parliament from 1994 until the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, which ended a period of parliamentary representation for communists stretching back to 1918. The Communist Party and its predecessor were the largest party in Ukrainian parliamentary elections for the first eight years of free and fair election, from 1990 until 1998.
According to Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko, by the 2010s the party had "degenerated into a conservative and pro-Russian rather than pro-working class grouping, gradually losing its voters and membership".
During the 2013–2014 Euromaidan protests, the party voted for anti-protest laws. However, it also voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office in the Revolution of Dignity. During the Russo-Ukrainian War which followed, the Security Service of Ukraine said the party was actively helping pro-Russian separatists and Russian proxy forces, which it denied. Regional party cells formed the pro-separatist Communist Party of the Donetsk People's Republic. In May 2015, Ukraine banned Soviet communist symbols. Because of these laws, and the Communist Party's support for Donbas separatists, the party was barred from standing in elections. In December 2015, the Communist Party was banned, for actions "aimed at violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, collaboration with Russian proxy forces, and inciting ethnic hatred". The party appealed the ban to the European Court of Human Rights and various Ukrainian courts, and participated in some elections by joining umbrella groups and running candidates as independents. The Central Election Commission of Ukraine prohibited Symonenko's candidacy for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.
Party officials reportedly supported the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a result, its ban was upheld and its assets were seized by the state in July 2022.
The KPU considers itself to be the direct successor to the original Communist Party of Ukraine, a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) which was founded on 5 July 1918 in Moscow. The original communist party existed until 30 August 1991, when the CPSU and its branch in Ukraine were banned. Between 1991 and 1993, several small communist organizations were created throughout Ukraine. "Without clear legality", communists from all over Ukraine convened on 6 March 1993 for the All-Ukrainian Conference for Communists in an attempt to reestablish the KPU. In reaction, the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) legalized the establishment of communist parties two months later. On 19 June 1993, the 1st Congress of the newly founded KPU was convened. Officially, it was designated as the 29th Congress to denote it as a direct successor to the Soviet KPU and it elected Petro Symonenko as First Secretary.
In the 1994 presidential election, the KPU supported the candidacy of Oleksandr Moroz from the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU). The relationship between the KPU and SPU was strong throughout the 1990s, with Moroz even speaking to the 22nd KPU Congress (held in 1999).
In the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party gained 24.65% of the vote and 123 seats, becoming the largest party in Parliament. The first ten members on the party list were Petro Symonenko (MP), Omelian Parubok (MP), Anatoliy Nalyvaiko (tunneler of the Karl Marks Mine (Yenakieve)), Borys Oliynyk (MP), Valeria Zaklunna-Myronenko (actress of the Lesya Ukrainka Theater (Kyiv)), Adam Martynyuk (the 2nd secretary of the Central Committee of CPU), Anatoliy Draholyuntsev (mechanic-electrician at Luhanskteplovoz), Vasyl Sirenko (Koretsky Institute of State and Law (NANU), unaffiliated), Borys Molchanov (tool craftsman at Dniproshyna) and Anatoliy Strohov (pensioner). The KPU won 121 seats, constituting 19.5% of the seats in the Verkhovna Rada.