Party of Christian Socialists

The Party of Christian Socialists (Ukrainian: Партія "Християнських соціалістів" or Russian: Партия "Христианских социалистов") is a Christian-socialist party which was founded on February 15, 2018. The party was created when their founder Mykhailo Dobkin left the Opposition Bloc. In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election party members took part on the election list of Opposition Bloc (a party founded in 2019). In the 2019 election this party won 6 single-seat constituencies and its nationwide list won 3.23% of the votes, meaning it did not overcome the 5% election barrier.

Before founding the party, Mykhailo Dobkin was known for its pro-Yanukovych and pro-Russian attitude. He took an ambivalent stance towards separatist republics in Eastern Ukraine and the concept of Novorossiya. Some pro-Euromaidan politicians claimed that Dobkin is a separatist. Dobkin staunchly opposed Euromaidan and posed in the uniform of Berkut, Ukrainian special police force infamous for violent measures it took against the protesters. Subsequently Dobkin would distance himself from his perceived stances, and his act of leaving the Opposition Bloc in favor of creating the Party of Christian Socialists is considered a part of his image change.

The party is considered to be Russophilic, as one of the issues Christian Socialists campaign on is protection of the Russian language in Ukraine. However, the party condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Leader of the party, Mykhailo Dobkin, despite being suspected of backing Donbas separatists in 2014, stated in response to the invasion: "Much of what I believed in collapsed overnight... just burned out. May this war be damned." The party then emphasized its desire to focus on local issues and regionalism, and promote regional causes as well as regional cultures, especially those of Southern Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine.