Around 5,000 people took part in the Kyiv Pride march on Sunday (June 21), with participants calling for equal rights and legal recognition of same-sex partnerships in wartime Ukraine. The event proceeded peacefully despite the presence of a smaller group of counter-protesters who gathered in the city center to oppose the march.

Among the participants were military personnel and veterans, who said the lack of legal recognition for same-sex couples leaves partners without rights related to medical decisions, inheritance and military benefits.

“As a member of the military, I could have been captured or killed. My family - the family I live with, my wife - would have no right to make decisions regarding my health, my burial, or the fight for my return from captivity,” Olena Shatseva, a 47-year-old veteran of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told Reuters.

Marchers carried Ukrainian and LGBT flags, observed a minute of silence for fallen service members and chanted slogans including “Our families are part of Ukraine” and “Ukraine is not Russia.”

The event ended after an air raid alert was declared, prompting organizers and police to ask participants to move into a nearby metro station for safety. No clashes or major incidents were reported.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

KYIV, UKRAINE (JUNE 21, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. ARMED FORCES VERTERAN, OLENA SHATSEVA, WITH PARTNER AND DAUGHTER WALKING IN PRIDE MARCH, SHOUTING (Ukrainian): “Rebel, love, do not give away your rights!”

2. HOLDING HANDS

3. SHATSEVA AND OTHER PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS WALKING AND SHOUTING (Ukrainian): “Our families are part of Ukraine”

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) AFU VETERAN, 47, OLENA SHATSEVA, SAYING:

“As a member of the military, I could have been captured or killed. My family - the family I live with, my wife - would have no right to make decisions regarding my health, my burial, or the fight for my return from captivity.”

5. PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS CARRYING UKRAINIAN AND LGBT FLAGS, PLACARDS STANDING / VOICE SAYING (Ukrainian): “Kyiv Pride announces a minute of silence”

6. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE STANDING WITH BOWED HEADS

7. PEOPLE STANDING CARRYING PHOTOGRAPHS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) MILITARY PSYCHOLOGIST, 31, ANTON NEDBAILO, SAYING:

“And I would like to live to see the moment when Ukraine adopts civil partnerships, so that I can have the exact same rights in this country as other people.”

9. NEDBAILO AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS STANDING AND CARRYING PHOTOGRAPHS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) MILITARY PSYCHOLOGIST, 31, ANTON NEDBAILO, SAYING:

“If, for example, I had a partner right now and I got wounded, it is not a given that he would get access to the intensive care unit. If we had children together, it is not a given that if I died, this person would get custody or any payouts. In essence, I am partially invisible to the state.”

11. PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS WALKING CARRYING PLACARD READING (Ukrainian): “Our families are part of Ukraine” AND SHOUTING (Ukrainian): “Rights are taken, rights are not given”

12. VARIOUS OF PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS WALKING

13. PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS WALKING AND SHOUTING (Ukrainian): “Ukraine is not Russia”

14. PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS WALKING AND CARRYING LGBT AND BRITISH FLAGS

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) CREATIVE DIRECTOR, 36, NADIIA (NO LAST NAME GIVEN), SAYING:

“These are all my friends, my closest people. I want them to have the same rights as I do - a woman in a traditional marriage. But at the same time, for me, this is not an issue at all: it makes no difference who sleeps with whom or forms families, the main thing is that we are all humane toward each other.”

16. VARIOUS OF PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS WALKING

17. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER, 31, ELAIDZHA (NO LAST NAME GIVEN), SAYING:

“In reality, such people - not only trans people, gay people, the entire community in general - among them are many people who are deciding very important issues for the country. If they use the civil code, and not just the new civil code, to tear these families apart, they will simply roll the country backward.”

18. PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS WALKING AND CARRYING PHOTOGRAPHS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL

19. GIRL BLOWING SOAP BUBBLES

20. VARIOUS OF PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS WALKING AND CARRYING LGBT FLAGS

21. PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS STANDING NEAR LGBT-COLORED RIBBONS

22. PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS STANDING CARRYING PLACARD, UKRAINIAN AND LGBT FLAGS

23. VARIOUS OF PRIDE MARCH PARTICIPANTS STANDING NEAR METRO STATION

24. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS OPPOSING PRIDE MARCH