Ukrainian lawmaker Mariana Bezuhla has rejoined the ruling Servant of the People parliamentary faction, lawmakers were told in Kyiv on August 18.
First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniienko announced her return during a session of Ukraine's parliament. Smiling as he spoke, Korniienko cited Part 3 of Article 60 of the parliamentary rules of procedure and confirmed that Bezuhla had submitted a formal application to re-enter the faction before welcoming her back.
The Verkhovna Rada is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine, where Servant of the People, the political party founded to support President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, holds the governing majority.
Reasons for rejoining the governing faction
Bezuhla explained her decision on Facebook, addressing her return to the faction she departed in 2024 after slamming the door behind her. She stated that her main goal was to establish a special parliamentary commission on military justice, explaining that a non-factional lawmaker is ineligible to lead such a committee under parliamentary rules.
She added that membership in the governing faction would grant her a guaranteed right to attend all official meetings and speak out freely. However, she noted that her return to the parliamentary group might be temporary.
Bezuhla previously left the Servant of the People faction on July 17, 2024, when her resignation statement was read out during a parliamentary sitting. Because she was elected in a single-mandate majority constituency in Kyiv rather than on a party list, leaving the faction did not automatically strip her of her seat as a member of parliament.
Previous disputes and party exit
At the time of her 2024 departure, Bezuhla outlined several grievances on Facebook. She pointed to corruption allegations against fellow faction member Mykola Zadorozhnyi, who was suspected of demanding a bribe of 3.4 million Ukrainian hryvnias. She noted that while a suspicion was not a court conviction, it remained damaging news for the party.
Bezuhla also cited a lack of backing from her parliamentary committee and faction colleagues. In the same post, she criticized President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stating that it was nearly impossible to reach him with direct facts about operational problems in the military because a daily barrier of self-described professionals blocked access.
Her departure from the faction followed her formal exclusion from the Servant of the People party in February 2024. Olena Shuliak, head of the Servant of the People party, told news agency UNIAN that Bezuhla's earlier application to resign from the party had already been approved prior to her formal removal.
Criminal investigations and military clashes
Two criminal proceedings have also been opened involving Bezuhla. The Office of the Prosecutor General told UNIAN that details were entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations following rulings by the Pechersk District Court in Kyiv. The State Bureau of Investigation is conducting the pre-trial inquiry under prosecutorial supervision.
Responding to the legal proceedings on her Telegram channel, Bezuhla claimed that Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, had personally tried to launch an attack against her. She alleged that Syrskyi acted through a fellow lawmaker and his associate named Taruta to submit complaints framing her actions as state treason.
