President Volodymyr Zelensky had responded to a petition to decriminalize pornography in the country on Tuesday, adding that the parliament is working on it.
Pornography in Ukraine – including sending nude photos between private individuals – is currently illegal in Ukraine and can lead to three to five years in prison.
The petition was launched by Svitlana Dvornikova, a model on adult content platform OnlyFans, who complained that workers like her are being prosecuted despite having paid over Hr.40 million (close to $1 million) in taxes.
It calls for the decriminalization of pornography in Ukraine, particularly via Bill 12191, which was already submitted to the parliament in November 2024. The petition received over 25,000 signatures and warrants a response from the Ukrainian president.
Zelensky, in response, thanked the participants for utilizing the channel and added that since Ukraine is “governed by the rule of law,” and thus only the parliament has the right to amend the laws, adding that the bill is already under consideration.
“I thank everyone who joined the use of such a form of interaction between the authorities and society as an electronic petition, and expressed a corresponding position,” Zelensky wrote.
“The Fundamental Law of Ukraine stipulates that the only body of legislative power in Ukraine is the parliament – the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, whose exclusive powers include, in particular, the adoption of laws,” he added.
He said the petition will also be taken into account during the parliamentary proceedings regarding Bill 12191.
“At the same time, I inform you that the proposals expressed in the electronic petition have been sent to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for processing during the consideration of the relevant draft law in accordance with the established procedure,” he added.
What is Bill 12191? What does it say?
Under the bill, which was supported by the Verkhovna Rada’s Law Enforcement Committee, filming and distributing porn might be decriminalized except for the following cases:
- non-consensual porn (revenge porn, deepfake);
- extreme porn (violence, zoophilia, necrophilia);
- child pornography and distribution among children
It does not address prostitution, which remains illegal in Ukraine.
The bill sought to keep the cases above illegal, with lawmakers intending to increase punishment for child pornography in particular, according to lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak who supported the bill.
The bill was last discussed in the Verkhovna Rada in February 2025.
Kyiv Post explored the topic in detail in an August 2023 report.
As outlined in a January Kyiv Post report, the bill has been highly debated in Ukrainian society, with a police official previously saying that he personally opposes the bill as it has “a negative impact on moral values.”