00:00Has Ukraine just legalized same-sex marriage?
00:07Ukraine's Supreme Court has just confirmed the legality of same-sex marriages.
00:12That's what some headlines are claiming following a recent court ruling in Kiev.
00:16These claims have left some people thinking that same-sex marriages are now legal in Ukraine,
00:21while others have come to the conclusion that a law aiming to legalize such unions is being passed in Parliament.
00:26But neither of these claims is true.
00:28The confusion stems from a recent Supreme Court ruling which recognized a same-sex couple as a de facto family
00:35for the first time in Ukraine's history.
00:37The court upheld a previous decision by a district court in June 2025,
00:42rejecting an appeal by a conservative group against its ruling.
00:45Ukraine's constitution still defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman,
00:50and the Supreme Court's decision has not changed that.
00:53But it does create a judicial precedent that same-sex couples who share a home and have a de facto
00:58marital relationship
00:59should be legally recognized as a family unit.
01:02However, the decision does not grant them a marriage certificate or change the legal definition of marriage.
01:08As it stands, even same-sex civil partnerships are not legal in Ukraine,
01:12as a 2023 bill to introduce them remains stuck in parliamentary limbo.
01:17But Ukraine's EU accession hopes hinge on several criteria,
01:21including legally recognizing same-sex couples, such as via civil partnerships.
01:25Brussels included a goal to adopt a law on registered partnerships for same-sex couples
01:30by the third quarter of 2025 in its roadmap for Ukraine's EU membership.
01:35But a new draft civil code threatens to undermine the progress made so far
01:40by specifying that marriage and family unions are exclusively between a man and a woman.
01:45Human rights groups are calling for the draft law to be withdrawn or amended,
01:49while the EU keeps a watchful eye on whether it violates Ukraine's accession requirements.
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