Lev Lukianinko Politician of independent Ukraine Date of Birth: 24.08.1928 Country: Ukraine

1. Biography of Lev Lukyanenko
2. Opposition to Soviet Regime
3. Ukrainian Helsinki Group
4. Political Career
5. Later Years

Biography of Lev Lukyanenko

Lev Lukyanenko was a prominent Ukrainian political figure and activist. He was born on August 24, 1928, in the village of Khripovka, Gorodnyansky district, Chernihiv region, Ukraine.

Opposition to Soviet Regime

In 1944-1953, Lukyanenko served in the Soviet army and later joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1953. He enrolled at Moscow State University named after Lomonosov to pursue his education. In 1959, Lukyanenko became a lawyer in the Glinyansky district of Lviv region and established the "Ukrainian Worker-Peasant Group" as an opposition movement against the Soviet regime. For his activities, Lukyanenko was expelled from the CPSU in January 1961 and initially sentenced to death for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." However, his sentence was later commuted to 15 years of imprisonment.

Ukrainian Helsinki Group

Upon his release in 1976, Lukyanenko became one of the founders of the "Ukrainian Helsinki Group," a human rights organization advocating for civil liberties in Ukraine. In the following year, he was arrested again and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and 5 years of exile. Finally, in 1988, Lukyanenko was released from prison after spending a total of 26 years in confinement.

Political Career

On March 30, 1990, Lukyanenko was elected as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) with 54% of the vote. On April 29, 1990, he founded the Ukrainian Republican Party (URP) along with his allies and became its leader. In the presidential elections on December 1, 1991, Lukyanenko received the support of 1,432,556 people, accounting for 4.49% of the total vote.

From 1992 to 1994, Lukyanenko served as Ukraine's ambassador to Canada, and during this time, he did not run for the position of URP leader. However, he remained an influential member of the party and was elected as the honorary head of the URP.

Later Years

On April 19, 2005, Lukyanenko was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. After the resignation of Yulia Tymoshenko's government on September 8, 2005, the URP split into two factions - one led by Lukyanenko, who supported continued cooperation with Tymoshenko, and the other led by Anatoliy Matviyenko, advocating for closer ties with the NSNU party. Eventually, Lukyanenko and his like-minded supporters left the URP and later joined the electoral list of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) as independents. Lukyanenko was elected as a deputy to the Verkhovna Rada for the fourth time in the parliamentary elections on March 26, 2006.

On May 28, 2006, Lukyanenko initiated the "Founding Congress of the Revival of URP" in Kyiv, leading to the establishment of the Ukrainian Republican Party of Lev Lukyanenko on December 22, 2006, with Lukyanenko as its honorary head. He continued to be actively involved in political discussions and participated in round table discussions regarding the Universal of National Unity in July and August 2006.

On June 16, 2007, Lukyanenko voluntarily resigned from the Verkhovna Rada, marking the end of his parliamentary career.