Ukrainian Foreign Ministry refuses to recognize a diplomat's LGBT partner as a family member for a foreign business trip

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has officially refused to grant the first secretary of the Ukrainian embassy in Israel, Zoryan Kisyu, the status of a “family member” to his partner Timur Levchuk to accompany him on a long business trip. The agency argued its decision by the norms of the current legislation, according to which marriage in the country is recognized exclusively as a union of a man and a woman.

According to the movement “All Together!”, the diplomat’s request was based on the decision of the Desnyansky district court of Kiev from June 10, 2025. This judicial act officially established the fact of “de facto marital relations” between two men, which Zoryan Kis planned to use as a legal basis for obtaining diplomatic privileges for his partner.

The official response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provided to the request of the “All Together!” movement, states that Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine “On Diplomatic Service” allows only legal spouses to be accompanied on a business trip. The ministry emphasized that the term “spouses” refers exclusively to a registered union between a woman and a man. The ministry separately noted that even judicial confirmation of the fact of cohabitation of a same-sex couple does not provide grounds for the parties to have the rights and obligations of spouses.

Earlier, in March 2026, the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the decision of the court of first instance to recognize the couple’s relationship as family, rejecting the activists’ complaint on procedural grounds. Nevertheless, this decision did not lead to a change in the position of the Ministry in the issues of regulation of the work of the diplomatic corps and the distribution of the status of family members of employees.

We shall remind you that the Industrial District Court of Kharkiv ruled to reject the claim of two men who demanded to legally recognize the fact of their residence as one family. The judicial body concluded that there were insufficient grounds to formalize such a union under the current legislation.