No marriage, no rights: Why Ukraine’s LGBT soldiers are suing for legal family status they deserve
“I am so sick of explaining to people that this is an innate trait, that we are the same people and we deserve the same rights,” says 27-year-old Anna, a service member in the 411th Unmanned Systems Brigade “Yastrub.”
Anna joined the military in 2022. Last year, she transferred to the Yastrub unmanned systems brigade, where she served as a driver-electrician. In May, her vehicle was hit by an FPV drone. Anna sustained shrapnel wounds to her back and limbs. After recovering, she became an ambulance driver.
She has been in a relationship with Arina for five years. Anna has never hidden her pansexuality in the military. She says she feels a great deal of support in her current unit.
But not from the state. Because to give their relationship any legal standing at all, the women plan to file a lawsuit seeking recognition of their de facto family relationship. At present, this is the only way in Ukraine to obtain even minimal legal recognition for a same-sex family.
Why do same-sex couples go to court? What decisions are courts making, and what are they guided by? Why do these rulings never mention recognition of same-sex marriage? And will parliament finally pass a law establishing registered partnerships?
The first and only (so far) successful ruling
In June 2025, the Desnianskyi District Court established the fact of cohabitation as one family (de facto marital relations) between Zoryan Kis and Tymur Levchuk.
The court also took into account the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, which has repeatedly stated that a state’s refusal to recognize de facto marital relations between persons of the same sex may violate their right to respect for private and family life, guaranteed by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
“The position of the ECHR indicates that de facto marital relations between persons of the same sex may be recognized if there is evidence of cohabitation, running a common household, and the existence of mutual obligations and rights. This allows persons of the same sex to obtain legal protection for their family relations,” the Desnianskyi District Court noted.
Several months later, the civic organization All Together! filed an appeal against this ruling. Representatives of All Together! declared that it is a “specialized and leading” organization that “opposes the legalization of same-sex partnerships.”
The Kyiv Court of Appeal rejected the organization’s complaint, reasoning that the Desnianskyi District Court’s ruling in no way violates the organization’s rights and does not prevent it from professing its religious convictions and “traditional notions” of family.
The head of All Together!, Ruslan Kukharchuk, did not stop there and appealed to the Supreme Court. However, it also agreed with the lower courts and left the Desnianskyi District Court’s ruling in force.
Why does this ruling not concern marriage?
In Ukraine, a couple can become a family either through marriage registration or through cohabitation as a single family. Cohabitation by a woman and a man as one family without marriage does not create the rights and obligations of spouses, according to the Family Code.
The Supreme Court, in the case of Zoryan and Tymur, explained that when it comes to establishing legal facts — for example, whether two people lived together as a family — the law imposes no restrictions based on sex.
If persons of the same sex have in fact lived a common family life, a court may officially confirm this. It creates legal consequences. For example, the right to inherit from another family member or to receive benefits as a family member of a soldier.
The court register contains numerous cases establishing the fact of cohabitation as a single family between persons of the same sex.
In February, a woman in Zhytomyr Oblast filed such a petition after caring for an elderly woman until her death. The court confirmed that they had lived together as a family for more than five years, so she can now claim the deceased woman’s inheritance.
In other words, this is roughly how registered partnerships would work — the kind the Verkhovna Rada has still not voted on. And that is precisely why such partnerships would make life easier not only for LGBT+ people but for everyone.
At the same time, the Supreme Court stressed separately that such a court ruling does not mean that it is “legalizing” same-sex unions or creating new legal norms.
How does a soldier prove he lives with his boyfriend as a single family?
While serving in one unit, soldier Dmytro Liaskovetskyi had a gay dating app discovered on his phone during a command check of devices.
“Leadership went crazy. Instructors, platoon and company squad commanders started threatening me, after which I ended up in treatment. I have congenital heart conditions. I was under constant stress. I had a hypertensive crisis. When all this spread through the brigade, there was even a suicide attempt,” he recalls.
Later, Dmytro transferred to the 17th Brigade. At the beginning of 2025, he met Yevheniy Donets at a party with friends. Soon, they began dating. Later, Dmytro brought Yevheniy from Kyiv to Poltava, where he serves and rents an apartment.
This January, the men decided to file a lawsuit to establish de facto marital relations. Dmytro, a lawyer in civilian life, prepared the petition himself.
“In the 17th Brigade, there was a talk with the command that there were to be no [public] comments from me. So I tried not to post anything [on social media]. I am now in the 7th [Brigade], here nobody gives a damn [about my lawsuit],” Dmytro admits.
The men explained in the Kharkiv Industrialnyi District Court that they share a household, expenses, and money, jointly care for a dog, openly present themselves as a couple, and together lead everyday and social lives.
They said it is important to them, given Dmytro’s service. So that Yevheniy would have access to his partner in case of wounding, injury, or hospitalization. The establishment of this fact is also important in the event of Dmytro’s death, capture, or going missing.
The hearing on March 13 went perfectly, Dmytro says. So there was hope that the ruling would be positive. Ruslan Kukharchuk, incidentally, had also filed a motion to participate as an interested party in this court, but the court did not consider it.
However, on March 20, the court denied the claim. In the ruling, the judge stated that the pair of men had presented insufficient evidence:
“Feelings of love can arise at first sight, including between persons of the same sex. However, to establish the legal fact of persons living as one family, manifestations of mutual feelings alone are not enough.”
Attorney Oksana Huz, who joined the case and represented Dmytro and Yevheniy, emphasized that the court did not dispute the right of same-sex couples to have a family. The denial was procedural.
Yet Dmytro is convinced that the judge ignored or distorted part of the evidence. In particular, he misinterpreted the lease agreement and concluded that Dmytro had no right to live with other people. In reality, it only concerned a ban on subletting, the service member says.
By the way, on March 20, when the judge announced the ruling outside the Industrialnyi District Court, a crowd of young men gathered and chanted slogans against same-sex unions. This time, the judge was noticeably nervous, Dmytro says.
Together with attorney Oksana Huz, the men are still studying the court ruling and deciding whether they will file an appeal.
Dmytro Liaskovetskyi is outraged that Ukraine has still not passed a law on registered partnerships:
“I understand perfectly well that some politicians are simply afraid for their reputation, afraid of losing voters. But why should my rights suffer? The state is supposed to protect my legal rights as a service member. But it is doing jack sh*t.”
So is there a chance that registered partnerships will be introduced?
For three years, bill No. 9103 “On the Institute of Registered Partnerships” has not made it onto the agenda of parliamentary sessions. Even though it received a European integration label.
The initiator of the bill, MP Inna Sovsun, says it is hard for her to predict when a vote on registered partnerships will occur:
“At this stage I am already certain that sooner or later partnerships will exist in Ukraine, because this is now a requirement of our European integration. And there are invisible heroes in this fight to make these norms part of Ukraine’s European integration, to whom I separately say thank you.”
The European Commission recently reminded Ukraine of its obligations in the EU accession negotiation process.
According to the Rule of Law Roadmap, Ukraine must adopt a law that ensures legal recognition and protection of same-sex couples, in line with the European Court of Human Rights ruling in the case of Maymulakhin and Markiv v. Ukraine.