Recognition of same-sex unions in Ukraine

Ukraine does not recognize same-sex marriage or civil unions. The Constitution of Ukraine defines marriage as between "a woman and a man", though on 10 June 2025 a court in the Desnianskyi District recognized a same-sex couple as a family. The issue of legal recognition for same-sex couples has become particularly acute after the start of Ukraine's accession to the European Union in 2022 and the Russian large-scale invasion of Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War.

In August 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government was working on passing a civil partnership law that would provide same-sex couples with some of the rights and benefits of marriage. A petition in support of civil partnerships was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada in April 2023. In May 2023, Zelenskyy said that the Ministry of Justice was working on introducing partnership legislation. The following month, the European Court of Human Rights imposed a positive obligation on the government, in Maymulakhin and Markiv v. Ukraine, to establish a legal framework recognizing same-sex unions. Polling suggests that a majority of Ukrainians support the legal recognition of same-sex registered partnerships. Nonetheless, a draft civil code submitted to the Verkhovna Rada by Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk in January 2026 defines the family as "the cohabitation of a man and a woman" and explicitly excludes the recognition of same-sex partnerships.

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