Verkhovna Rada changes procedure during air raids

The Verkhovna Rada is preparing a new format of work during air raids that will allow MPs not to interrupt plenary sessions. Parliamentarians will move to a shelter where they can continue work and voting.

This was reported by People's Deputy from the "Servant of the People" faction Olga Vasilevska-Smaglyuk.

According to her, the need to change the current procedure is due to prolonged and frequent air raids in Kyiv. Currently, after a raid is declared, the work of the parliament is interrupted, and MPs must go to a shelter.

The new format provides that MPs will also go down to the shelter, but the plenary session itself will not be stopped, and voting will continue.

Vasilevska-Smaglyuk noted that due to frequent interruptions, the pace of consideration and adoption of bills has decreased significantly. This concerns, among other things, documents necessary for Ukraine's European integration and fulfillment of obligations to international partners.

According to her, during the nearest session period the parliament must consider a number of such initiatives, so prolonged work stoppages due to raids are becoming a serious problem.

The Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada on August 31 also reported that it is taking necessary measures to ensure uninterrupted work of the parliament during constant air raids. However, technical details of the new mechanism have not yet been officially disclosed.

Thus, for now we are talking about preparing a new format, and not about an already operating procedure for conducting sessions. It is also not reported from which plenary session MPs will be able to continue voting after moving to the shelter.

In recent days, authorities are also discussing revision of other rules for Kyiv's work during prolonged air raids. In particular, changes are being considered for the operation of enterprises and institutions, traffic on bridges, and the curfew regime.