This morning at 09:00, the KyivPride NGO team held a meeting with the Head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, the Chief of the Main Department of the National Police in Kyiv, as well as other representatives of the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine, and local government authorities. The meeting concerned the upcoming KyivPride March for human rights, scheduled to take place on June 14.

We express our gratitude to the government representatives for this meeting and for taking the time to discuss our event.

During the meeting, we were advised to cancel the March on the scheduled date due to security concerns. Several risks were outlined, including the threat of missile attacks, potential assaults on the March itself, possible attacks on participants by members of a counter-demonstration, and the issue of freedom of speech for “alternative opinions,” among others.

We would like to assure everyone that when planning and organizing any event, we thoroughly develop security plans and are fully aware of all potential risks. For the March, we proposed a 30-minute route between two nearby shelters, scheduled for a time when the likelihood of shelling is minimal — according to official reports from the Kyiv City Military Administration — at 12:00.

In contrast, the event announced by so-called opponents promotes violence, and we have not received any information from government authorities regarding measures to prevent this publicly announced violation of the law.

We understand that for security reasons, the authorities may not disclose all specific wartime risks to us. If such risks are deemed realistic, we acknowledge that the Kyiv City Military Administration may prohibit events from taking place in Kyiv during certain periods. In that case, the KyivPride March will be rescheduled to another date — for example, June 15 or another weekend day.

Unfortunately, negotiations with government representatives have so far exhibited elements of victim blaming and gaslighting. Victim blaming occurs when the victim(s) of a crime, accident, or any form of violence are held partially or wholly responsible for the violation or harm they experienced. Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation aimed at making a person doubt their own perception or sanity. Specifically, we are faced with accusations that by holding events for the LGBTQ+ community, we supposedly “provoke” members of far-right groups to commit acts of violence. 

According to paragraph 2, part 1, article 2 of the Law of Ukraine “On the National Police,” the duties of the police include providing police services, particularly in the areas of protecting human rights and freedoms, as well as the interests of society and the state. 

We call upon the National Police of Kyiv, in accordance with Article 214 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, to promptly— and no later than 24 hours after becoming aware from any source of circumstances indicating a possible criminal offense— enter the relevant information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations and initiate an investigation.

We urge the National Police of Kyiv and the Kyiv City Military Administration to ensure law and order during the peaceful KyivPride March on June 14, in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine and the principles of the Scandinavian model—successful examples of which have been repeatedly demonstrated by the Kyiv police, especially since the full-scale invasion.

In light of the above, we declare that we consider the KyivPride March necessary and feasible, provided that the event’s duration is shortened and the route carefully planned. We emphasize that we do not consider canceling the KyivPride March. We aim to cooperate with government representatives to create the safest possible conditions that will allow the event to take place on the basis of a reasonable compromise.

• NGO “KyivPride”
• NGO “Kharkiv Women’s Organization ‘Sfera'” (KharkivPride)
• Charitable Foundation “GenderZed”
• NGO “UkrainePride”