Foreign Ministry denies diplomat’s gay partner family-member status
Kis and Levchuk. Photo: SOTA
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry refused to grant “family member” status to the gay partner of Zorian Kis, First Secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel, for travel abroad. This was reported by the “All Together!” movement, citing a response to the organization’s lawyer’s request.
Kis had asked to take Ukrainian citizen Tymur Levchuk with him on a long-term posting as a “family member,” referring to a June 10, 2025 ruling by Kyiv’s Desnianskyi District Court. That ruling established the fact of “de facto marital relations” between the two men.
The Foreign Ministry replied that it had considered the request under the current legislation on diplomatic service. Its official response states that Article 2 of Ukraine’s Law “On Diplomatic Service” allows only a family member to accompany a diplomat on assignment, including “the other spouse.” The ministry clarified: “The term ‘spouses’ means a registered marriage between a woman and a man.” It also stressed that “even the established fact of a same-sex couple living together as one family does not give rise to the rights and obligations of spouses.”
As the UOJ reported, a Kyiv court ruled that the relationship between two men may be considered a family. Kis used that very court ruling as the legal basis for his request to the ministry. In March 2026, Ukraine’s Supreme Court left the district court’s ruling in force, dismissing the complaint filed by the “All Together!” movement on procedural grounds.
Read also
Sand for construction of Yermak’s residence brought from cemetery, MP says
MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that sand illegally removed from a cemetery in Ukrainka was used in the construction of the elite Dynasty cooperative in Kozyn.
Israeli soldiers receive jail terms for mocking statue of the Virgin Mary
Those involved in the act of sacrilege in the village of Debel will spend several weeks behind bars for desecrating a statue of the Mother of God.
Serbian Church officially receives back land of 15th-century monastery
An agreement was signed in Belgrade transferring the territory of the ancient Vojlovica Monastery to the Banat Eparchy.
Pat Daniiel comments on conflict between Phanar bishop and community in Turkey
The Bulgarian Primate believes that the hierarch of the Constantinople Patriarchate should not have forced the Bulgarian community in Edirne to serve in Greek.
Patriarch Bartholomew congratulates Patriarch Shio on his election
In his message of congratulations, Patriarch Bartholomew called for joint witness before the world within the framework of “pan-Orthodox unity.”
Georgian priest in Germany: Patriarch Shio will preserve Ilia II’s legacy
Priest Elias Schlepegrell, who was present at the election in Tbilisi, said there is a clear disposition toward preserving Ilia II’s line and the unity of the Georgian Church.