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Oleg YatsenkoLeader of the All-Ukrainian youth public organization "Student Brotherhood"
Country:
 Ukraine |
Content:
- Biography of Oleg Yatsenko
- Leadership of "Student Brotherhood"
- Opposition to the Yanukovych Government
Biography of Oleg Yatsenko
Early Life and Involvement in "Pora!" MovementOleg Yatsenko, the leader of the All-Ukrainian youth public organization "Student Brotherhood," was reportedly born in 1980 (an article from the publication "Ukraina Moloda" in 2004 stated that he was 24 years old at the time). According to Vladyslav Kaskiv, who was mentioned in the media as the founder of the Ukrainian youth movement "Pora!" and one of the initiators of the "Orange Revolution," Yatsenko was closely associated with the movement. Furthermore, Kaskiv claimed that Yatsenko himself came up with the name "Pora" in early March 2004. In the fall of the same year, Yatsenko was mentioned in the media as an "ordinary student" who, according to his mother, had "no connection to politics... was studying history and spoke Ukrainian." It was reported that members of the special police unit "Berkut" and representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) came to his apartment to conduct a search related to a criminal case allegedly involving explosives found in the "Pora" office. According to the newspaper "Ukraina Moloda," Yatsenko was not officially a member of any political party or of "Pora" at that time. The publication mentioned that to prove that there were no explosive devices or drugs in his apartment, he called "lawyers and members of parliament" from the bloc "Nasha Ukrayina" over the phone.
Leadership of "Student Brotherhood"
Starting from 2005, Yatsenko was mentioned in the press as the leader of the All-Ukrainian youth public organization "Student Brotherhood." There was limited information about the organization in the media. According to some reports, "Student Brotherhood" emerged in 1991 after a massive strike by Ukrainian students. The organization was officially registered in 1996. In the same year, media reports mentioned the activism of "Student Brotherhood" in defense of student rights (Yatsenko was referred to as a participant in a hunger strike). In 2006, members of "Student Brotherhood" took part in a rally of the Belarusian opposition called "Chornobylskyi Shlyakh," and Yatsenko informed journalists about the detention of movement activists in Minsk. In the same year, an Internet newspaper called "Obzorovatel" reported that "Student Brotherhood" relied on grants from both "Nasha Ukrayina" and the "Socialist Party." From 2006 onwards, "Student Brotherhood" was featured in the press as an organizer of rallies and pickets aimed at reclaiming Ukrainian control over objects that members of the "Brotherhood" believed were illegally occupied by the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Yatsenko provided details about the events organized by the organization and commented on the ongoing situation. According to Yatsenko, the organization he led did not aim to denounce the fleet agreement; instead, he and his comrades sought to ensure that the presence of the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea was within the bounds of the law. In 2008, Yatsenko described the organization he led as a "public organization that defends Ukraine's national sovereignty." That same year, "Novaya Gazeta" stated that the actions of the "Brothers" were "directly coordinated by the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Volodymyr Ohryzko." However, Russian diplomats mentioned in the article stated that Ohryzko never mentioned the student demands during negotiations.
Opposition to the Yanukovych Government
In 2010, after Viktor Yanukovych won the presidential election, replacing the leader of "Nasha Ukrayina" Yushchenko, Yatsenko was mentioned in the media in relation to the activities of the opposition government of Ukraine. In particular, he was featured in reports about the opposition cabinet's approval of the Program for the Development of the Ukrainian Language, Ukrainian Culture, and Historical Consciousness of Ukrainian Citizens for 2010-2014, a project developed and proposed by "Student Brotherhood." The organization was concerned about the "rollback of the course of humanitarian development in Ukraine." In 2011, actions demanding the return of lighthouses to Ukrainian jurisdiction, which were leased by the Russian Black Sea Fleet, resumed in Crimea. Media reports mentioned Yatsenko's attempted seizure of the "Sarych" lighthouse, as well as a picket organized by activists of the organization demanding the liberation of the Chersonesos lighthouse. Commenting on these events, analysts speculated that such actions could have been organized "not without the agreement of the Ukrainian government" and could be used as leverage against "Gazprom" during gas price negotiations.
