**The All-Ukrainian Union “Freedom”** (Svoboda Party) has long been the most influential nationalist party in Ukraine. The party was created in October 1991 immediately after the declaration of Ukraine’s independence under the name Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU), and was officially registered in 1995. The first logo of SNPU was the Wolfsangel (Wolf anchor) symbol.
In 2003, during the presidential elections that inspired the first Maidan protests, Svoboda supported the opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko. The leader of Svoboda, Oleh Tyahnybok, has been remembered for his anti-Semitic statement at an action in support of Yuschenko, which was broadly promoted by the pro-government media. Nevertheless, this even helped Svoboda become the country’s main nationalist organization.
In 2004, the party changed its name to the All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda and became less radical. Since 2009 the party has been represented in local governments, mostly in Western Ukraine, where it has become one of the most influential political forces. During the parliamentary elections in 2012, Svoboda received the highest level of electoral support among explicitly nationalist Ukrainian political forces over the whole independence period – 10.45%, having won 37 seats in the Verkhovna Rada. During the election campaign, the party leaders regularly appeared on pro-government TV channels, even though the party was in opposition to their owners. Later, there was information that the nationalists were allegedly financed by the pro-government Party of Regions. In this way, the Party of Regions wanted to somewhat enhance the visibility of the nationalists to strengthen its own pseudo-antifascist rhetoric. However, Svoboda denies receiving money from the Party of Regions.
Svoboda actively supported Euromaidan, and its head Oleh Tyahnybok was long considered one of the three main leaders of the Maidan. However, after the victory of the protests, the party lost its influence against other, more radical far-right parties. In the early parliamentary elections after Maidan protests, Svoboda won 5 seats in the parliament in single-seat electoral districts, as well as 15 seats in different regional councils.
During the protests at the Verkhovna Rada against the adoption of constitutional amendments regarding the special status of the Donbas on August 31, 2015, a member of Svoboda Party threw a grenade at the police. As a result of the explosion, three National Guardsmen were killed and 157 people were injured.
In the 2019 elections, Svoboda, as part of the united bloc of nationalists, won only 2.15% of the vote, failing to cross the 5% electoral threshold. Only one member of the party, Oksana Savchenko, elected in a single-mandate constituency, entered the Verkhovna Rada.
Party members are affiliated with other nationalist organizations, such as **Sokil** and **Kakheton**. Former members of the Svoboda Party founded one of the most active far-right street organizations in Ukraine -** C14**.
