Verkhovna Rada

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

The Verkhovna Rada developed out of the systems of the republican representative body known in the Soviet Union as the Supreme Soviet (Supreme Council), which was first established on 26 June 1938 as a type of legislature of the Ukrainian SSR after the dissolution of the Congress of Soviets of the Ukrainian SSR.

The 12th convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (elected in 1990) issued the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, introduced elements of a market economy and political liberalization, and officially changed the numeration of its sessions, proclaiming itself the first convocation of the "Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine". The current parliament is the ninth convocation. Because of the war in Donbas and Russia's unilateral occupation and annexation of Crimea, elections for the constituencies situated in Donbas and Crimea were not held in the 2014 and 2019 elections; hence the current composition of the Verkhovna Rada consists of 424 deputies.

The Verkhovna Rada previously used a mixed voting system, in which 50% of the seats were distributed under party-list proportional representation with 5% election threshold and the other 50% through first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. The 50/50 mixed elections method was used in the 2002, 2012, 2014, and 2019 elections; however, in 2006 and 2007, the elections were held under a proportional system only. According to the election law that became valid on 1 January 2020, the next election to the Verkhovna Rada, expected to be held after the Russian invasion of Ukraine ends, will be held under a proportional system.