“I am here so that I can look in the mirror and not spit in it.” The youngest MP from the trenches

We meet Sviatoslav Yurash near the Verkhovna Rada. He comes during the session days — usually twice a month. The commander lets him go by issuing business trips. After working under the dome and meeting with ambassadors, he rushes back.

In the evening, he has a late train to Kharkiv. Then his classic look will change to a military uniform. The only thing that will remain the same is that the collar of his vyshyvanka will always peek out from under it.

When asked which role is more meaningful for him — that of an MP or an ordinary soldier — he answers: “I joined the Armed Forces from the first weeks of the war. And undoubtedly, for me, the war and what you experience there make the most sense.”

Sviatoslav Yurash is the youngest MP in the history of Ukraine. He became one at the age of 23. He has experience in public, international, and media activities, but no higher education. In 2013, Sviatoslav could not finish his international relations studies in Kolkata while the Maidan was raging in Ukraine. He dropped everything and returned, almost immediately founding the seven-language Euromaidan press center. Later, he would receive the Order of Merit, III degree, from the fifth president for his civic courage.

Today Sviatoslav is 28. More than two years have passed since he asked to go into the trenches. How a parliamentarian became a machine gunner and what he has to say to the common narrative “let MPs fight” — read in the article by hromadske.

“It took me a long time to finally get into the trenches”

In Kyiv, Yurash is a deputy, and in Donbas, he is a machine gunner with the 24th separate assault battalion “Aidar” in the Bakhmut direction. This is his second battalion. The previous one was disbanded due to heavy losses.

Yurash decided to join the Defense Forces on the eve of the invasion when the clouds were darkening around him. He volunteered right away, but the process stalled: the unit did not know the legal aspects of mobilizing MPs. But when the Russians killed a person close to him, journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova, near Kyiv, they could not stop him.

“I knew her for 10 years. She was the closest person to me. When she was killed, I understood the word ‘hatred’ in a new way. I wanted to join those who were fighting near Kyiv, in the middle of hell. I knew the company commander, and there the discussion about mobilization was faster and clearer. This is how my military history began,” Sviatoslav recalls.

After the battles near Kyiv, his company was sent to Bakhmut.

I constantly tried to do my best to do what I came there to do. Namely, to be on the battlefield. Because I had been trying for a long time to finally get into the trenches.Sviatoslav Yurash, MP of Ukraine

He describes the current situation at the front as consistently difficult. But he says he has no right to complain.

“I always remember the fact that my great-grandfather walked from Stalingrad to Prague. And he walked all that way without a Starlink and Western support of the kind we have now. And I understand that if our ancestors survived the hell of the 20th century and gave us an independent Ukraine of 50 million people, the least we can do is to keep it all.”

“The attitude towards MPs is the worst: I feel it here like nowhere else”

Sviatoslav Yurash calls the public attitude toward MPs “the curse of their profession”. He is sure that it will take more than one generation to correct this perception.

“Over the years of independence, my colleagues in all governments have done things that I can't believe. They sold everything in the parliament, from their conscience to Ukraine. Accordingly, this turns into a rejection of any efforts that you make even personally,” Yurash says.

The attitude to the title “MP” is the worst. And believe me, I can feel it like nowhere else from my communication with my colleagues. I understand that it will take more than one MP and more than one generation to correct this perception a little bit.Sviatoslav Yurash, MP of Ukraine

Therefore, Sviatoslav says, he understands the nature of the “let the MPs fight” narrative.

“I've been involved in public activities for years. I joined Zelenskyy because I rejected the old clans and political elites. I didn't want to help any of them continue to run the country. And in this context, not only do I understand it, but I have lived and will continue to live it. Because I know the sins of various colleagues,” Sviatoslav says.

“Even if the entire Verkhovna Rada went to war, the opinion of MPs would not change,” Yurash is convinced. However, he adds that he is not alone.

“In general, in this narrative around MPs, my thesis is simple: the Constitution prohibits mobilizing MPs, but they can mobilize. As for whether they will or should be more active, it's up to everyone to decide. Because the Constitution allows them to fulfill their parliamentary powers in the first place,” explains Yurash.

My story is not about changing the situation globally, but about being able to look in the mirror every morning and not spit in it, you know?Sviatoslav Yurash, MP of Ukraine

About Zelenskyy and mobilization

Sviatoslav Yurash is an MP from the Servant of the People faction. I ask him if, after 5 years in office and more than 2 years of the great war, his attitude toward the president, his decisions, and his environment has not changed.

“This is the essence of democracy: there are always complaints, there have been and there will be. But I have a clear position of support — because I came with this team, I work with them, and I sincerely believe that during a full-scale war, creating chaos inside is only helping the enemy,” says Yurash.

“Moreover, it confirms historical stereotypes about the misfortune of Ukrainians: we can never achieve unity. And at this moment, we need to find it no matter what. No matter what disagreements or imperfections there may be, we must understand that the global issue is bigger — the future of our country in principle,” Sviatoslav emphasizes.

The MP does not share the public outcry over the increased mobilization. It is a “righteous thing to do” to use all means for defense, he says.

Yes, there are certain nuances, but I would not indulge in a public discussion on this topic. Because at a time of national trial, we should not start to fulfill our eternal historical curse: “two Cossacks, three hetmans”. Because Russia is not fighting for Crimea, Donbas, Kharkiv, or Kyiv. It is fighting for the whole of Ukraine, which in its conception is part of their statehood. If we do not agree with this, then we must do everything to prevent this from happening.Sviatoslav Yurash, MP of Ukraine

Four days without communication

“The hands of the youngest Member of Parliament of Ukraine, a private in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Sviatoslav Yurash. Once again, look at these hands... Just look… because I can't…” says one of the posts by Sviatoslav's mother Diana Yurash.

“Once again, for the fourth time, I waited for four days to get in touch with him from Donbas. As soon as I heard and saw that Sviat was in touch, I asked for a photo. And now I got it! The look of a tired and sick soldier who answered my cascading questions ‘Are you upset? Are you wounded? Is something hurting you?’ he wrote to me laconically: ‘My soul...’” Sviatoslav’s mother shares her experiences again.

“These are combat missions,” Sviatoslav responds to her worries. “That's what they look like. Of course, you can't answer back. Starlink is not always available at the positions. My mommy forgets about it. But a mother is a mother. She is worried. What else can I say?”

Sviatoslav's parents are now in the Vatican. His father, Andrii Yurash, is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Vatican. Whenever possible, they are in constant contact via video calls. Sviatoslav admits that he is outraged by the Pope's position.

“When I have the opportunity, we communicate. Just yesterday I called my father. It was a good opportunity to ask him what the situation was. My father clearly defends his position: Ukraine and Ukrainians believe that there can be no such double- or triple-reading as the Pope regularly creates with his theses. I am very sorry that the Pope cannot distinguish between evil and good. But he should apologize for this in his discussion with God,” the MP is convinced.

We touch on the topic of religious beliefs and mobilization. Yurash Jr. explains that Orthodoxy has a clear position on defending the homeland: “The Bible says that it is not just acceptable to defend the homeland, it is necessary to do so.”

In cases where people refuse to mobilize because of religious beliefs, it is mostly Protestants, Sviatoslav says.

“Their theses are more difficult. And this topic is actually worth discussing. World War II, for example, has various examples when people who could not shoot went to serve, but not to combat positions. Therefore, I see no problem in creating such options for those people whose conscience tells them to do one thing or another. I have respect for the Ukrainian religious mosaic,” Yurash said.

“They spoke Russian, but died for Ukraine”. The language issue

Sviatoslav Yurash always wears a vyshyvanka. Whether in the parliament or at the front, it always peeks through from under the uniform. He explains his love for it simply: “First of all, it's stylish.” He has 8 vyshyvankas. It may seem that he has a backpack full of vyshyvankas. He laughs: “No”. He just wears them when he goes out and doesn't take them off for a long time.

He is a native of Lviv. His Ukrainian is intelligent and refined. Sviatoslav calls it “an essential part of the Galician package of services”. At the same time, he maintains his social media pages in both Ukrainian and Russian. He explains his position as follows: "Because I am fighting with one guy from Yenakiievo and another from Ilovaisk.”

Then he goes on to tell us more: “When I returned to Ukraine in 2013, I saw on the Maidan all those people who did not speak Ukrainian and did not like Bandera, but did everything for Ukraine and even more. And my position on this Galician package of services transformed a bit.

And then I came to Donetsk. In 2016 I went there for six months as a journalist for the first time. I saw a beautiful, glorious city falling apart. I saw people who had never used Ukrainian and loved everything communist. But they were dying for Ukraine. And I took the position that I had no right to apply the same approach to the language issue that was preached in Lviv.”

It was Yurash's rhetoric, particularly on the language issue, which he called a “whip” that could slow down Ukrainization, that caused outrage at the start of his term as a member of parliament. And yet, even a full-scale war did not change his mind.

By my posts, I show that I will not accept inadequacy towards Ukrainians who speak Russian. My position is born out of life. It is born out of what I saw on the Maidan, in Donetsk, and in general in my life.Sviatoslav Yurash, MP of Ukraine

“Ukraine is a mishmash. I am in favor of Ukrainization, which should happen step by step. This is a gradual, ongoing process. But it will go on generation after generation, and in this process, there should be an adequate attitude towards other Ukrainians. At this pace and in such a conversation, you can more easily convince people to switch to Ukrainian in various formats,” Sviatoslav concludes.