Opposition Bloc

A banned political party in Ukraine. It was formed in 2014 as a de facto successor the pro-Russian Party of Regions, uniting the remnants of the PR under one political brand.

The majority of former MPs from the Party of Regions joined the newly formed Opposition Bloc. One of the key advisors to the Party of Regions, Paul Manafort, hired back in 2005 with money from the main sponsor of the Party of Regions, Rinat Akhmetov, played a key role in the reorganization of Party of Regions into the Opposition Bloc. In particular, it was Manafort who personally came up with the name Opposition Bloc, was the author of the concept of the Opposition Bloc’s election campaign in the 2014 Verkhovna Rada elections, and was the author of the idea of ​​promoting the Opposition Bloc as the “voice of Russians” in eastern Ukraine.

The Opposition Bloc first participated in the 2014 snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada. Before the 2019 parliamentary elections, representatives of the Opposition Bloc, the Party of Peace and Development, Nashi, Revival, and Trust the Deeds parties announced that they were going to the elections together under the brand of the Opposition Bloc.

As of 2021, it is not an active political force, and the political project itself is closed. The main lobbyist of this political force: oligarch Rinat Akhmetov has already announced the creation of a new political force taking into account the Opposition Bloc. In early May, one of the main favorites of the Opposition Bloc, Borys Kolesnikov, announced the creation of a new political force, Ukraine – Our Home.

Since 19 March 2022, the National Security and Defense Council has suspended the party’s activities for the duration of martial law due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On 23 May 2022, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine filed a lawsuit against the political party Opposition Bloc to ban the party's activities. On June 8, the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal banned the political party's activities. The property of the party and all its branches, according to the court's decision, is transferred to the state.

Chairperson: Andriy Kapshuk (25 May 2008 – by April 2014), Svitlana Kharchuk (by April 2014 – 27 May 2016), Yuriy Boyko and Borys Kolesnikov (27 May 2016 – 15 December 2018), Borys Kolesnikov (15 December 2018 – 22 March 2021), Nataliia Pieshekhonova (22 March 2021 – 8 June 2022).

Leader: Yuriy Boyko (9 September 2014 – 20 November 2018), Yevheniy Murayev (2019)