KYIV—The decriminalization of online pornography could soon be a reality in Ukraine, as a petition calling for the government to support such action surpassed 25,000 signatures, the Kyiv Independent reports. Now, an official response is expected from the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the centrist and pro-European leader.
A petition was filed with the Ukrainian government's official online petition platform on June 27 by Svetlana Dvornikova, a model on OnlyFans. In five days, the petition saw at least 25,000 signatures, requiring a response from the government. As of Wednesday, 25,318 have been recorded in favor of the petition to decriminalize online porn.
Dvornikova explained that despite the ban on pornography, she and scores of other Ukraine-based adult content creators pay income tax to the national government.
"Over five years, I've paid more than UAH 40 million ($958,062) in taxes to the state," she wrote in her petition. "But instead of gratitude for this money, the state opened a criminal case against me." Capitalizing on the ongoing war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, Dvornikova argued that her contribution to the Ukrainian national government via her income tax payments could equate to military equipment that could be used to contribute UAH 40 million toward "hundreds of Russians killed on the front."
Tim Zadorozhnyy, news editor for the Kyiv Independent, reported in January 2025 that OnlyFans creators based in Ukraine declared more than $7 million in income. Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a Ukrainian member of parliament, calculated that from 2020 to 2022, at least 5,000 citizens earned $123 million through OnlyFans and other NSFW platforms.
Zheleznyak has introduced legislation in the unicameral parliament of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, a few times previously. AVN has previously reported on efforts by several members of parliament in the country to use the war with Russia as a means to align the country legally and culturally with the European Union and the United States.
Ukraine's current laws governing pornography date back to an international treaty over 100 years old. That treaty is the International Convention for the Suppression of the Circulation of and Traffic in Obscene Publications. The current laws are also heavily influenced by statutes dating back to the Soviet era and Marxist-Leninist communism.
Religious conservatives in Ukraine are additionally concerned about efforts to decriminalize pornography. AVN additionally reported in October 2023 that the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations said that they condemn the legalization of pornography because it is morally precarious.
