Ukraine suspends activities of 11 political parties with 'links to Russia'

The Ukrainian president has ordered a suspension of the activities of 11 opposition parties which are claimed to have connections to Russia.

Many of the affected parties are relatively small, but the largest of them, the Opposition Platform for Life, has 44 out of 450 seats in the country’s parliament.

The party is led by Viktor Medvedchuk, said to have friendly ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter.

Also on the list is the Nashi (Ours) party, led by Yevheniy Murayev.

Before the invasion, UK authorities had warned that Russia wanted to install Murayev as the leader of Ukraine.

Speaking in a video address on Sunday, Mr Zelenskyy said that “given a large-scale war unleashed by the Russian Federation and links between it and some political structures, the activities of a number of political parties is suspended for the period of the martial law.”

“Activities by politicians aimed at discord and collaboration will not succeed,” he added.

The announcement comes after Mr Zelenskyy's office said that he had signed a decree that aims to unite all national TV channels into one platform due to the importance of a "unified information policy" under martial law.

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