connected to the Federal Security Service of Russia. Said claim was later confirmed by another historian, Yuri Felshtinsky, and presaged Medvedchuk's later attempts to connect with Russian forces during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ivan Rizak, the head of the Zakarpattia SDPU(o) branch and governor of Zakarpattia Oblast, was arrested in May 2005 and charged with abuse of public office and driving a pro-opposition university rector to suicide the year before. That same month, the party was accused of involvement in the 2000 murder of Georgiy Gongadze, with the journal Ukrayina Moloda (14 April 2005) accusing party members of using the dead journalist's corpse in a plot to discredit President Leonid Kuchma and force early elections, which could have led to Medvedchuk succeeding Kuchma. The SDPU(o) claimed these accusations to be part of a political campaign by the Ukrainian Government. Supporters of the Orange Revolution, on the other hand, have claimed that the party enjoyed privileged status under Kuchma and was closely associated with big business, organized crime, corruption, and government media. Despite being one of the most active political parties, with a wide range of political activities and a significant number of student and youth members, the SDPU(o) lost a significant number of votes due to the notoriety of its leaders for their business and political practices. Post-Orange Revolution Before the 2006 parliamentary elections, some commentators regarded the SDPU(o) as one of three hard-line anti-Yushchenko forces, with the others being Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions and Petro Symonenko's Communist Party of Ukraine. At the time, the SDPU(o) also became close to the Socialist Party of Ukraine. During the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party was part of the Opposition Bloc "Ne Tak", and failed to clear the 3% minimum to get into the Verkhovna Rada, thus losing all of its seats. The SDPU(o) has considered various concepts in an effort to regain its status as a viable force in Ukrainian politics. The current leader is Yuriy Zahorodnyi, who was also a member of the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life until its ban and dissolution amidst the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The party did not participate in the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election. The party participated in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election as part of the Bloc of Left and Center-left Forces. This decision caused Kravchuk to leave the party, with him declaring he had left due to