Migration policy of Ukraine: legal regulation and European integration: recommendations

Russia’s full-scale invasion led to emigration of a huge number of Ukrainians, which has become an economic and humanitarian challenge not only for Ukraine but also for the partner countries hosting millions of forcibly displaced persons. According to the most conservative estimates presented in Civil Network OPORA research study, the population of Ukraine declined by more than 8 million during the period of 1991 to February 24, 2022. Russia’s war of aggression has significantly worsened the demographic situation in Ukraine, causing massive internal and external displacement. According to the UNHCR, 6,346,300 citizens of Ukraine were registered in Europe as of February 19, 2025. Furthermore, the aforementioned study based on the data collected by mobile operators indicates that the number of residents of Ukraine has decreased by more than 7 million as of June 6, 2023 relative to December 31, 2021.

This is the second version of the Roadmap, updated based on discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, which resulted in the refinement of key recommendations.

Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, ongoing since 2014, has resulted in a significant displacement of people seeking safety within Ukraine. According to the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons”, adopted in 2014, an internally displaced person (hereinafter referred to as IDP) is a citizen of Ukraine, a foreigner or a stateless person who is legally present on the territory of Ukraine and has the right to permanent residence in Ukraine and who has been forced to leave or abandon their place of residence as a result of or in order to avoid the negative consequences of armed conflict, temporary occupation, widespread violence, human rights violations, and natural or man-made emergencies. 

This document is intended to draw the attention of our partners and stakeholders to the primary tasks and priority steps for the preparation of postwar elections. Civil Network OPORA has prepared its own expert vision of electoral process, which takes into account the results of previous professional discussions with official parties (Verkhovna Rada, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Central Election Commission). OPORA calls on the Parliament to hold substantive discussions in order to find systemic solutions, given the need to lay a critical amount of groundwork for the organization of postwar elections before the repeal of martial law. The success of preparation of legislative framework, prevention of Russian interference in the postwar elections, and integration into the European Union directly depend on a depoliticized high-quality discussion.

Russian military aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2014, has led to an increase in the number of people with disabilities among both civilians and the military. According to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the number of persons with disabilities increased by 300,000 over the two years of full-scale war and amounted to more than 3 million in June 2024. It should be understood that this number will only grow over time. As a result, Ukraine faces new challenges that have emerged in the area of political participation of the disabled. To identify these problems and find ways of solving them, Civil Network OPORA conducted more than 20 in-depth interviews with leading experts in the field of elections and inclusiveness, and commissioned a sociological survey which was carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. 

In February 2023, the head of the Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said that the Russian Federation is conducting a large-scale disinformation operation called “Maidan-3”. According to GUR, the Kremlin is trying to weaken the AFU on the frontline by discrediting the Ukrainian authorities: it is alleged that illegitimate president and parliament of Ukraine are adopting illegitimate decisions. Indeed, Ukrainians were supposed to re-elect the bodies of state power in the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024, but this did not happen due to statutory ban on holding elections under martial law. Moreover, it is impossible to ensure full exercise of citizens’ right to elect and be elected under conditions of active hostilities and regular missile attacks. Nevertheless, the Kremlin is persistently trying to shake the confidence of Ukrainian citizens and international partners in the governmental authorities of Ukraine.

On October 22, 2024, Civil network OPORA held the second civic summit “(Dis)connected: rethinking social resilience in Ukraine”. The summit based itself on the results of joint research study on polarization of Ukrainian society, which was carried out by OPORA in cooperation with Kyiv School of Economics.

Findings of the study by the Civil Network OPORA and the Kyiv School of Economics, conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.