Ukraine Lawmakers Support Porn Legalization to Fund War Efforts
Despite the popularity of adult content in Ukraine, it remains technically illegal and punishable by a potential prison sentence
- Michael McGrady Jr
· 1:06 PM2 min read
KYIV—Lawmakers in Ukraine's unicameral legislature are now considering a new legislative proposal to decriminalize pornography across the entire country. Many news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, are framing the effort as a means to fund Ukraine's war effort against the authoritarian Russian Federation.
Supporters of decriminalizing porn argue that tax revenue generated by such an effort could bring in $25 million, potentially helping fund the acquisition of military drones. OnlyFans, a popular premium social media network used widely by adult content creators and producers, estimates that over 7,900 creators earned more than $130 million from Ukraine in 2023.
The current proposal is before the unicameral legislature, officially the Verkhovna Rada, or simply the "Rada," with strong initial support, legislative documents seen by AVN suggest.
Opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak has produced this legislation in a bid to overturn a prohibition on the production, distribution and possession of pornography. The current law was established during the era of the Soviet Union's hold over Ukraine, with the official position of the Communist Party noting that pornography was counter-revolutionary.
As AVN reported, Zheleznyak initially led the charge in a previous legislative session with similarly worded legislation. The bill fell short earlier this year. Zheleznyak received only 207 votes, short of the 226 required to advance legislation in the 450-seat legislative body.
The first reading of the new bill has 231 Rada lawmakers voicing support, signaling a potentially successful pathway to adoption and a signature by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Svitlana Dvornikova, a self-identified adult content creator, was described in the Wall Street Journal as having paid nearly $900,000 to Ukraine's tax authority. However, state police raided her home and seized her savings. This prompted her initial effort to petition Zelenskyy to endorse the decriminalization of pornography and adult content creation.
The estimate of the $25 million in tax revenue generated has been equated to the approximate cost of 30,000 drones. But this was an illustrative calculation, as total funding differs.
It is also important to contextualize a framing like that. The Rada's consideration of such amendments to legal codes is simply decriminalization, not full legalization and regulation. Initial action taken by the Rada occurred over the summer. Now, the second reading is approaching and will feature amendments and clarifications to the draft law.
As AVN reported in May, the Security Service of Ukraine and national law enforcement agencies uncovered a corruption scheme involving regional police officials who allegedly accepted bribes to turn a blind eye to underground pornography production outfits and adult content creators in multiple regions around the country. Local news reports at the time noted that the probe implicated the police chief for the Ivano-Frankivsk region and its deputy, and two deputy chiefs of the Ternopil and Zhytomyr regions.
A fifth suspect served as the personal driver for a deputy Interior minister, who allegedly acted as an intermediary and a money courier in a much broader corruption scheme. All five suspects were accused of receiving monthly payments of up to $25,000 per studio in exchange for shielding the adult content creators from law enforcement scrutiny.