Former Minister of Ecology Ihor Shevchenko became the first in the ranking of expenses for political advertising on Facebook among Ukrainian politicians. According to a study by the Chesno movement, in 2025 he spent more than $8.5 thousand on promoting his own publications. In paid posts, Shevchenko promotes radical theses — from the death penalty for corrupt officials to the return of Ukraine's nuclear status — and tests electoral sentiment regarding the possible presidency of Valeriy Zaluzhny.
The Chesno movement analyzed Ukrainian politicians' Facebook advertising campaigns and found out who pays the most for which messages. The leader turned out to be former Minister of Ecology Ihor Shevchenko. He actively launched targeted advertising from his personal page for a year, investing over $8.5 thousand.
These paid posts were not limited to ordinary PR. Shevchenko relied on slogans that clearly appeal to the emotions of the voter: the death penalty for corrupt officials, the rejection of the European integration course, the return of nuclear status to Ukraine. A separate direction is the advertising of posts with rhetoric like "Zaluzhny - the next president?". There were at least five such publications recorded by analysts, and they were all for money.
At the same time, Shevchenko promoted texts "about himself": the author's reflections on raising children, his position on the LGBT community, and moral assessments of various social topics. Chesno believes that this line is an attempt not just to gather coverage, but to form its own recognizable electoral core for potential participation in the elections.
The second largest spender was Oleksandr Feldman, a Kharkiv MP from the Restoration of Ukraine group — over $6,000. His advertising is focused on his personal political positions and the activities of Feldman-Ecopark. At the same time, the park has been repeatedly accused by UAnimals: animal rights activists have claimed that the facility keeps animals without proper permits and in violation of conditions.
In third place is the leader of the "European Solidarity" Petro Poroshenko with expenses of about $6.1 thousand. In his case, advertising works differently: it is not so much ideological ultimatums as a demonstration of activity. Poroshenko promotes videos and posts about his parliamentary work, charitable trips, assistance to the army, as well as publications about the sanctions pressure against him.
The list of the most active advertisers also includes MPs Larisa Bilozir and Oleksandr Kachura (about $3.5 thousand each), the head of the Kryvyi Rih Defense Council Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council Violetta Labazyuk, as well as Oleksiy Leonov and Pavlo Zhebrivskyi. This confirms that political advertising has long gone beyond the boundaries of parliamentary factions and has become a tool for personal promotion in the regions.
The "Chesno" movement draws attention to another aspect. A significant part of these ads on Facebook does not formally look like election campaigning. It is either a "personal opinion of a politician", or a "public initiative", or a "social issue", but in reality these messages build an image, increase recognition and test the audience's reaction to specific messages. In fact, this is a soft start of campaigns without an announced campaign.
That is, Facebook has become not just a platform for self-promotion for Ukrainian politicians, but a field where you can immediately see what ideas are "going in", who is reacting to them, and who can be turned into a loyal voter. Ihor Shevchenko, with his combination of radical theses and personal self-promotion, is so far the most expensive player in this field.
