"Dobrozvychaynist" didn't go down well: residents of Mykolaiv took to the streets to protest the new code

In Mykolaiv on May 15, 2026 a protest took place against the new edition of the Civil Code of Ukraine, which the Verkhovna Rada has already supported in the first reading. This was reported by Suspilne correspondents from the scene.

Protest participants demanded a revision of bill No.15150. They believe that the document in its current form may create risks for the rights of women, children, servicemembers, representatives of the LGBT+ community, as well as for issues of property, land and cultural heritage.

According to the inspector of the preventive communication sector of the National Police, Alla Tkachenko, 40 people gathered at the protest.

Mykolaiv resident Kira said that she had to search for information about the local protest for a long time: she contacted public organizations, but ultimately learned about the action only through acquaintances. In her view, the new edition of the code raises doubts about Ukraine’s European course.

“Most of all the Civil Code is incompetent because of the new clauses regarding the appropriation of land. I believe this is literally the theft of our communal property, meaning some official could privatize land for themselves”, – she drew attention to the provisions that could affect land issues and the disposal of communal property.

Another protest participant, Eva, spoke about the term “good custom”. According to her, this concept is mentioned in the document more than 40 times, but there is no clear understanding of how exactly it will be applied in practice.

“Good custom was mentioned more than 40 times, but no one knows what this good custom is and introducing such vague terms of morality and norms into laws is not normal, because they can be interpreted in different ways. For some people one thing is normal, for others something else. This outraged me the most, because there is a lot of such things there. I cannot choose just one”.

Another Mykolaiv resident, Yulia, noted that she had partially reviewed the draft and was also alarmed by the vague formulations. In particular, she mentioned provisions on the digital footprint, minors, servicemembers and “other persons”, which, in her opinion, do not sound sufficiently legal.

The new edition of the Civil Code of Ukraine was registered on January 22. The Chair of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, reported that the document comprises 832 pages, and almost six years of work involved 247 experts. On April 28 the parliament adopted bill No.15150 in the first reading. It was supported by 254 MPs. The project proposes to update the private law of Ukraine and structure it into nine books, which cover personal, property, family, inheritance and international private relations.

Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Taras Kachka on May 5, said that the document would be further revised before the second reading. According to him, a significant portion of the comments concern family law, and discussions of the amendments may last several months.

Human rights organizations criticize the current draft and state that certain provisions do not align with European standards. That is why participants in Mykolaiv insist: the document must undergo serious revision before the second reading.

Previously we wrote:

• The Rada is preparing a “right to informational silence” for workers
• The Supreme Court of Ukraine recognized for the first time de facto marital relations of a same-sex couple
• There is love, few proofs: the court did not recognize the relationship of a serviceman with his partner as a family
• The house was destroyed – the land will remain: the Rada gave a chance to start anew
• The Mykolaiv city authorities propose to demolish nine buildings that were damaged by Russian shelling