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65-804: The Operational Command South ( OC South ) is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces in the southern part of Ukraine, which was formed in January 1998 as the Southern Operation Command on the basis of the Odesa Military District and was headquartered in Odesa . From 2005-2013 it was known as the Southern Operation Association . In January 2007 RIA Novosti reported that destruction of ammunition would take place at

130-465: A decline in Kravchuk's political popularity, sparking governmental infighting. Political tension reached a point in the fall of 1993 that the then-prime minister, Leonid Kuchma , resigned. By 1994, in less than three years of Kravchuk's presidency, the country's GDP had shrunk by 40 percent. Kravchuk ran for a second term as president in 1994 but was defeated by Kuchma, with his loss being attributed to

195-504: A few days before on 1 December, the voters voted overwhelmingly to secede from the Soviet Union—a move which Kravchuk now fully supported. This made Kravchuk the first head of state of independent Ukraine. On 25 February 1992, as President of Ukraine, Kravchuk, issued Presidential decree 98/92 About the changes in the system of central bodies of executive power of Ukraine . On 6 May 1992, Kravchuk met President George H. W. Bush in

260-548: A math teacher with absolutely no interest in politics". Kravchuk went to a vocational school before studying Marxist political economy at Kyiv University. He graduated at 24 and became a political economy teacher in Chernivtsi , in southwest Ukraine, before entering politics. Kravchuk joined the Communist Party of Ukraine in 1958 and rose through the ranks of the party and of its agitprop department. Kravchuk took part in

325-514: A nuclear power at that time, voluntarily gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees. Kravchuk achieved and strengthened the formal sovereignty of the country. He took a pro-European stance, developing relations with the West and signing a cooperation accord with the European Union. The Kravchuk administration walked a tightrope between escalation of Ukrainian–Russian tensions and

390-554: A policy of cooperation with Moscow. Kravchuk refused to retain the common armed forces and currency inside the Commonwealth of Independent States . On 2 July 1993, the Ukrainian parliament approved the statement; 'Ukraine advocates the creation of an all-embracing international system of universal and all-European security and considers participation [therein] a basic component of its national security'. Ukraine under Kravchuk welcomed

455-550: A possible coup. All personnel were required to either take the oath, or to retire or return to their home republic. The Ukrainian oath of loyalty that was administered was not based on ethnicity or linguistics but on a civic identity, and turned the Soviet Army in Ukraine into the modern Ukrainian Ground Forces. As of February 1992 about 80% of personnel had taken the oath, according to Defense Minister Morozov. Laws establishing regulations

520-509: A referendum and he was elected president on 1 December 1991." Following his death, Ukrainian Minister of Defense , Oleksii Reznikov , said, "Thank you for the peaceful renewal of our Independence. We're defending it now with weapons in our hands." Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine , Andriy Yermak , said it was "Sad news and a great loss," describing Kravchuk as "a wise patriot of Ukraine,

585-792: A result, the Ukrainian army had very little of its Soviet equipment in working order by July 2014, and most systems had become antiquated. Personnel numbers had shrunk and training, command, and support functions needed improvement. After the start of the war in Donbas in April 2014 in eastern Ukraine , Ukraine embarked on a program to enlarge and modernise its armed forces. Personnel in the Ukrainian Armed Forces overall climbed from 129,950 in March 2014 to 204,000 active personnel in May 2015, with 169,000 soldiers in

650-938: A week after Belarus's Stanislav Shushkevich , another signatory to the Belovezh Accords , died in Minsk. On 11 May, President Zelenskyy issued a decree establishing the Kravchuk Prize in his memory. His funeral ceremony took place on 17 May at the Ukrainian House in Kyiv, and was attended by President Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska as well as three former presidents of Ukraine: Leonid Kuchma , Viktor Yushchenko , and Petro Poroshenko . In addition, guests included his wife Antonina , Mayor Vitali Klitschko of Kyiv, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov , and former politicians Oleksandr Kuzmuk , Oleksandr Moroz , and Mustafa Dzhemilev . He

715-600: Is especially dangerous in the forward-based units securing the nation's borders." Under a plan promulgated in 2000, the Ground Forces were to reduce the number of troops from 300,000 to 240,000 by 2015, and an ultimate change from a partial conscript -based force to a fully professional military. The armed forces received little more than half of the Hr 68 million it was promised for reform in 2001, but managed to disband nine regiments and close 21 local military bases. In 2005–06,

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780-710: The 180th Rifle Division were left in Ukraine, having been previously under the 14th Guards Army headquartered at Tiraspol in the Moldovan SSR . The post of commander of ground troops was designated in early 1992. By the end of 1992, the Kyiv Military District was disbanded, and Ukraine used its structures as the basis for the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff . The government made an effort to get all troops to take an oath of allegiance to Ukraine to prevent

845-849: The 1st Army Corps was reorganised as the Northern Territorial Operational Command (which became the Northern Operational Command in 1998). In 1997 the Carpathian Military District was reorganised as Operational Command West . From 1992 to 1997, the forces of the Kyiv MD were transferred to the Odesa MD, and the Odesa MD's headquarters moved to Donetsk . In a December 1996 speech, President Leonid Kuchma revealed that as many as 191 mechanised infantry and tank battalions were rated not ready, adding,"This

910-456: The Council of Ministers declared that a Ukrainian army would be created with 450,000 troops and the Ukrainian parliament adopted several laws that created the framework for the creation of Ukrainian ground, naval, and air forces, as well as a national guard. The Soviet defense ministry was opposed to this initially, but by early November they started talks with the Ukrainian defense ministry to manage

975-627: The Freemasons . During the 2004 presidential elections Kravchuk actively supported the candidacy of Viktor Yanukovych , and was a member of the Yanukovych team that negotiated with the opposition in the aftermath of that disputed election. In November 2004 he told the media that he was afraid that the resulting crisis would cause the disintegration of the country, intensifying movements for certain regions of Ukraine to join other countries. On 25 September 2009, Kravchuk declared during an interview with

1040-668: The IISS said the numbers dropped from 14 divisions in 1992, to two divisions, six brigades , and one independent regiment in 2008. Today, the key echelon for mechanised and armoured formations is the brigade. The mechanised infantry brigades, together with the newer motorised, mountain, rifle infantry and assault infantry brigades, constitute the Infantry Corps of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The Armoured Forces also constitute their own corps. Established in 1991, these two corps are

1105-641: The International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security or the Yavoriv Combat Training Centre, was hit by eight Russian missiles in March 2022. It appears that the SAS has left behind forces to train Ukrainian soldiers. At least two officers from the SAS were confirmed as having been in Ukraine, each being posted with a different battalion near Kyiv; emphasis has been training Ukrainian soldiers how to use

1170-824: The International Visitor Leadership Program , a professional exchange run by the US State Department . He became a member of the Ukrainian Communist Party Bureau in 1989, and on 23 July 1990, became Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR , becoming the republic's nominal head of state. On 24 October 1990, the monopoly of the Communist Party of Ukraine on power was abolished, and thus, Kravchuk became not only

1235-819: The Southern Front of the Russian Civil War , the Polish–Ukrainian War , and the Polish – Soviet War. Since 2015, with the adoption of the Defenders Day holiday, certain traditions of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army of World War II have been incorporated into the ethos and culture of the Ground Forces. The August 1991 Soviet coup attempt began the process of splitting the Soviet military. Leonid Kravchuk ,

1300-778: The Soviet Navy 's Black Sea Fleet should be divided. In May 1992, Russia's Supreme Soviet voted to declare the Soviet government's 1954 grant of Crimea to Ukraine an illegal act. Ukraine opposed this decision. The status of the Russian Black Sea Fleet 's presence in Sevastopol and the Crimea was not resolved by a 20-year lease agreement until 1997, three years after Kravchuk left office. Under Kravchuk's leadership, Ukraine's economy slumped as corruption linked to privatization of Soviet-era industry thrived. Ukraine's economic woes caused

1365-519: The T-80 , T-64 , (T-64BV Model 2017, T-64BV), T-64BM "Bulat" and T-72UA1 main battle tanks, BTR-4 , BTR-60 , BTR-70 , and BTR-80 wheeled armoured personnel carriers, and BMP-1 , BMP-2 , and BMD-2 tracked infantry fighting vehicles. In the years after the fall of the Soviet Union, a large number of the former Soviet mechanised infantry and armoured formations on Ukrainian soil were disbanded –

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1430-501: The Tunguska-M1 , Igla MANPADS system, Strela , and Shilka anti-aircraft missile systems. Formed in 1992, it is also one of the oldest combat support corps of the Ground Forces. The war in Donbas caused a radical reform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in general and the Ukrainian Ground Forces in particular; it built and expanded on the 2011 structure. As of 2022 the structure is the following: Ground Forces General Command of

1495-652: The Verkhovna Rada on the occasion of Constitution Day due to heart surgery. After surgery, Kravchuk was placed in intensive care and connected to a ventilator . In July, the media reported that Kravchuk had been in intensive care for a month. On 10 May 2022, a family member told the Ukrainian News Agency that Kravchuk had died at the age of 88, after a long illness. His death was also confirmed by unnamed officials in Kyiv, as well as Andriy Yermak , head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 's office. He died

1560-563: The defence industry in Ukraine produced equipment mostly for export. In the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution , Russian special forces in unmarked uniforms began surrounding Ukrainian military bases on the Crimean peninsula before capturing them individually using a mixture of attrition and threats. Over the following weeks the Russian Armed Forces consolidated control of the peninsula and established road blocks to cut off

1625-524: The 20,300 Ukrainian soldiers stationed in Crimea before the annexation left the peninsula. The rest stayed in Crimea and defected to Russia. In the early months of the war in Donbas that erupted in 2014 the Armed Forces were widely criticised for their poor equipment and inept leadership, forcing Internal Affairs Ministry forces like the National Guard and the territorial defence battalions to take on

1690-617: The 275th artillery ammunition base (275-й артиллерийской базе боеприпасов) near the village of Novobohdanivka, Zaporizhzhia region. Until 2015 Operational Command South covered 9 oblasts and autonomous republics: Odesa, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. In 2015 eastern parts of the operation command territory were passed on to newly formed Operation Command East based in Dnipro. The headquarters of

1755-723: The Anglo-Swedish NLAW . Other soldiers have actually been trained in the UK, according to the article, with the training course being approximately two weeks long for each participant. This follows an earlier report of British special forces being left behind in Ukraine. This includes the SAS, the Special Boat Service , and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment . Other contributors appear to be unnamed special forces from Eastern European countries. These forces are training

1820-1009: The Armed Forces of Ukraine (Military Unit [MU] А0105), Kyiv . Senior command personnel: Formations and units directly subordinated to the Ground Forces General Command : Training establishments units directly subordinated to the Ground Forces Command : Operational Command West (MU А0796) is headquartered in Rivne and has an area of responsibility covering the Volyn , Zakarpattia , Ivano-Frankivsk , Lviv , Rivne , Ternopil , Khmelnytskyi , and Chernivtsi Oblasts . Headquarters , Rivne Combat support units: Combat units: Territorial Defence units: Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk ( Ukrainian : Леонід Макарович Кравчук , IPA: [ɫeoˈnid mɐˈkɑɾoʋɘt͡ʃ kɾɐʊˈt͡ʃuk] ; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022)

1885-688: The Ground Forces branch as of 2016. In 2016, 75% of the army consisted of contract servicemen. Since 2014, Ukraine's ground forces have also been equipped with increasingly modern tanks, APCs, and many other types of combat equipment. The Ukrainian Ground Forces traces its ancestry to the Ukrainian People's Army and the Ukrainian Galician Army of 1917–21. It fought in the Ukrainian War of Independence (the Ukrainian-Soviet War ),

1950-402: The Northern Operational Command was reorganised as Territorial Directorate "North" . It was tasked with territorial defence, mobilisation training, and preparation of reserves. From 1991 the Ukrainian Ground Forces bought its military equipment only from Russia and other CIS states, as well as locally producing some of their own equipment. Until 2014 and the start of the war in Donbas ,

2015-597: The OC South was relocated from Odesa to Mykolaiv . By 1 July 2006, the Southern Operational Command included 6th Army Corps (6 AK) and other units comprising: Exercises that command units have taken part in include "Autumn-98", "reaction", "Southern redoubt-99", "Redoubt-2000", including peacekeeping – series of "Peace Shield", "Cossack Steppe," "common neighborhood", "Sea Breeze", "Fairway of Peace," "South," "cooperative partner" joint exercises with units of

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2080-677: The Ukrainian Ground Forces in support of its paramount responsibilities to the nation. As of 2017 Ukraine's army fields four Army Aviation brigades in an Army Aviation Command directly subordinated to the Ground Forces HQ, each in support of operational commands of the UGF: The Army Aviation's maintenance facility is the 57th Aviation Base in Brody . The service's equipment includes Mi-2 , Mi-8 , and Mi-24 helicopters. The RF&FA (Rocket Forces and Field Artillery) Corps constitute one of

2145-409: The Ukrainian military in sabotage, counter-insurgency, and sniping. In 2007 the network of exercise and training ranges and centres was optimized, decreasing their number and increasing the specialization of each centre. Schooling occurs at: Mechanised infantry and armoured forces brigades constitute the largest and primary components of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Their primary objectives in

2210-525: The Ukrainian state, he lived in a state-owned dacha in Koncha-Zaspa . He is often associated as a key figure in achieving Ukraine's independence and in giving up Ukraine's nuclear arsenal. Former Belarusian leader, Stanislav Shushkevich , who took part in the Belovezha talks and signed the deal, said; "Kravchuk was focused on Ukraine's independence, he was proud that Ukraine declared its independence in

2275-680: The United States and signed an agreement for the full removal of all nuclear tactical weapons from Ukrainian territory by 1 July, and in return obtained a credit line of $ 110 million to buy U.S. commodities. It led to the signing of the Budapest Memorandum . The document was signed on 5 December 1994 at the summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Budapest . In it, Ukraine,

2340-656: The air defence regiments and anti-aircraft missile and artillery complexes under the brigades' air defence battalions or regiments. Brigade level units are characterized by their high rate of fire, vitality, maneuverability, and capability of action under all conditions of modern combat arms operations. Surface-to-air missile systems and complexes of operational command level are characterised by their long range and firepower and are equipped with surface-to-air missile complexes Osa , Buk , Buk-M1, and Tor . Anti-aircraft missile and artillery complexes that are of brigade level are equipped with various ex-Soviet and Western systems like

2405-400: The armed forces of France and Italy. Operational Command South has operational command of ground force units in Vinnytsia , Odesa , Mykolaiv , Kirovohrad , and Kherson oblasts. The following formations of other branches of the Ukrainian Armed Forces , respectively the general staff of the Ukrainian ground forces, are based in the area of Operational Command South and can be assigned to

2470-490: The artificial union without any perspectives". Kravchuk endorsed Yulia Tymoshenko during the 2010 presidential elections campaign. During the 2010 election campaign, he accused incumbent president Viktor Yushchenko of having "turned into Yanukovych's aide. He has actually turned into an also-ran. His task is to slander Yulia Tymoshenko every day and prevent her from winning [the presidential elections]". Kravchuk explained his shift in support from Yanukovych to Tymoshenko

2535-543: The brunt of the fighting in the first months of the war. By February 2018 the Ukrainian Armed Forces were larger and better equipped, numbering 200,000 active-service military personnel. Most of the volunteer soldiers of the territorial defence battalions were integrated into the Ukrainian army. Within the reporting period of 16 November 2017 to 15 February 2018 a United Nations OHCHR monitoring mission documented 115 cases of credible allegations of human rights abuses committed by Russia and its proxy forces. The nature of

2600-438: The case of wartime operations are: capturing and holding targets, maintaining positions, defending against enemy attacks, penetrating enemy lines, and defeating enemy forces on either defensive or offensive operations. The mechanised infantry and armoured forces are equipped with a combination of Soviet-made (part of them modernised), more modern Ukrainian-made, and increasingly Western-made armoured vehicles, including variants of

2665-413: The command as needed: Colonel General Volodymyr Shkidchenko commanded the Odesa Military District from December 1993 until it became the Southern Operational Command in February 1998. Ukrainian Ground Forces After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine retained its Soviet-era army equipment. The Armed Forces were systematically downsized and underinvested in after 1991. As

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2730-448: The conflict as well as mobilisation efforts have resulted in a massive expansion of the force, in addition to ongoing force modernisation. Training in 2006 was aimed at developing mobility and combat readiness of the forces. The Ukrainian Armed Forces took advantage of the opportunities provided by UN exercises and exercises where Ukraine, NATO members, and other partners participated. Training resulted in 6,000 combat-ready troops in

2795-414: The crimes ranges from enforced disappearances, looting of civilian property, torture, rape and sexual violence up to political repression and extrajudicial killings. On 24 February 2022 , Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Ground Forces have been participants in most of the land combat actions of the ongoing war. The influx of Western material and supplies to the branch before and during

2860-499: The division of Soviet forces in Ukraine. The Ground Forces were officially established on 6 December 1991 as part of the armed forces, with a presidential decree on 12 December - from then on marked as Ground Forces Day - being the first that designated the Soviet Army's Ukrainian formations as the ground component of the new force. After their establishment, in 1992 the Ukrainian Ground Forces included approximately 245,000 personnel and 6,500 tanks. The Ukrainian Ground Forces were

2925-417: The head of the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet , declared on 24 August 1991 the formation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the subordination of Soviet military units in Ukraine, and the creation of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. On 3 September 1991 the Soviet Air Force major general Kostyantyn Morozov was appointed the first Minister of Defense of Ukraine by the Verkhovna Rada , the new parliament. In October

2990-559: The idea of NATO enlargement . As president, he never opposed the expansion of the Alliance or the possibility of a future Ukrainian membership to NATO. This was reflected in his disdain for military cooperation with Eurasian structures, such as the Tashkent CIS Collective Security Treaty, in favour of European security structures. He said that "the best guarantee to Ukraine's security would be membership to NATO." He repeated his support for an immediate Ukrainian membership to NATO in 1994. Ukraine and Russia argued over many issues, including how

3055-405: The local osadniks (Polish colonists). During World War II , Kravchuk's father perished on the front lines. Kravchuk married a mathematics teacher, Antonina Mykhailivna Mishura, in 1957. First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, Barbara Bush (wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush ), described Antonina in her memoirs: "She was the nicest young woman,

3120-408: The nation. The Army Anti-Air Defence Missile Artillery regiments and brigade-level battalions or regiments in the infantry and armoured brigades are responsible for protecting troops against enemy air attacks anywhere on the battlefield, and while in combat or in static protection of UGF facilities. The army air defence branch is equipped with a variety of effective surface-to-air missile systems of

3185-413: The newspaper Den that he left SDPU(o) and became unaffiliated again. He explained this based on the fact that his former party decided to join the Bloc of Left and Center-left Forces to run for the 2010 presidential elections . He was indignant due to the fact that the political council of the party decided to accomplish that behind the closed doors in non-democratic order. He called it [the] "block as

3250-429: The nominal, but also the actual head of the republic. After the 19–21 August 1991 Soviet coup attempt , Kravchuk, who did not support the attempt to remove Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev from power, resigned from the Communist Party. After the Verkhovna Rada passed the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine on 24 August, the constitution was amended to create the post of President of Ukraine . Before

3315-529: The oldest combat arms of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The Ukrainian Ground Forces also include two mountain assault infantry brigades, four Jäger infantry brigades, and four reserve rifle infantry brigades. All of these units are part of the Infantry Corps and alongside those of Soviet made manufacture, these are being supplied with Western products and arms systems locally produced by the Ukrainian defence industry. The Ukrainian Army Aviation provides reconnaissance , tactical fire support and air transport for

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3380-402: The oldest combat support corps of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Established 1991 on the basis of Soviet Army artillery divisions assigned to the AFU and the field artillery of the UGF's divisions, units of this corps provide artillery fires support to formations of the Ground Forces in combat operations and in wartime operational support of other branches of the AFU in fulfillment of its missions to

3445-433: The personnel and technical basis for the military were passed in 1992, which included keeping the Soviet rank structure, with the exception of the rank of marshal, which was replaced with general of the army of Ukraine . It was planned that the restructuring of the entire Armed Forces would take place until 1995. Between June and August 1993, the first redesignation of armies to army corps appears to have taken place. While

3510-482: The possibility of Ukraine sending reinforcements from the mainland. The takeover of Crimea was largely bloodless, as the Ukrainian soldiers there did not fight back. By the end of March, all remaining Ukrainian troops were ordered to pull out of Crimea. The Ukrainian army was considered to be in a poor state during and after the annexation, with only 6,000 of its troops ready for combat and many of its vehicles lacking batteries. After Russia's annexation only 6,000 of

3575-406: The post of Chief of Ground Forces had been created in early 1992, it was over two years before the first holder, Colonel General Vasily Sobkov , was appointed on 7 April 1994. The creation of the Ground Forces as a separate branch of the young AFU was formalised by Presidential Decree 368/96 of 23 May 1996, 'On the Ground Forces of Ukraine.' That year both the Ground Forces Command was formed and

3640-488: The prime minister, Kravchuk resigned from the presidency, but ran for a second term as president in 1994 . He was defeated by his former prime minister , Leonid Kuchma , who then served as president for two terms. After his presidency, Kravchuk remained active in Ukrainian politics, serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada and the leader of the parliamentary group of Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) from 2002 to 2006. Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk

3705-427: The rampant graft and the declining economy. Soon after his defeat in 1994, Kravchuk joined the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) (SDPU(o)). He served as a member of the Verkhovna Rada from 1994 until the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election . In February 2003, Oleksandr Moroz , the leader of Ukraine's Socialist Party , accused Kravchuk and other 300 public high-ranked officials of being members of

3770-433: The second largest army in Europe at the time. Following the declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1991, among those formations gained by the new Ukrainian Ground Forces by inheritance from the old Soviet Army were the 1st Guards Army , the 13th Army , the 38th Army , two tank armies (the 6th Guards Tank Army and the 8th Tank Army ), and the 32nd Army Corps at Simferopol . The 28th Guards Motor Rifle Division and

3835-442: The spring of 2014 of Ukraine's (then) 129,950 active military personnel. In 2016 the Ukrainian army had more than 200,000 combat-ready soldiers of its 260,000 active personnel. In 2015 Ukraine, the United States , the United Kingdom , and Canada established the Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine (JMTG-U), setting up three new training sites in Khmelnytskyi , Kamianets-Podilskyi , and Yavoriv . The latter, known as

3900-593: The vote for the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine Kravchuk was instrumental in persuading the communists parliamentary majority to accept the opposition's demands of Ukrainian Independence. Participants in the Belovezha talks said Kravchuk rejected any efforts to keep the Soviet Union going with reforms. Following the Act of Declaration of Independence Kravchuk was vested with presidential powers, thus becoming both de facto and de jure head of state. Later that year, on 5 December 1991, voters formally elected him president in Ukraine's first presidential election . Just

3965-412: Was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine , serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed the Lisbon Protocol , undertaking to give up Ukraine's nuclear arsenal. He was also the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and a People's Deputy of Ukraine serving in the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) faction. After a political crisis involving the president and

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4030-421: Was born on 10 January 1934 in the village of Velykyi Zhytyn ( Żytyń Wielki ) to an ethnic Ukrainian peasant family. At that time the village was part of Poland ( Second Polish Republic ). It became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic after the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 when Kravchuk was a child. His father served in the Polish army during the 1930s, and later he and his wife worked for

4095-409: Was buried at Baikove Cemetery . Kravchuk married Antonina Mykhailivna Mishura in 1957. She rarely attended official events with her husband. Kravchuk and his wife had one child, Oleksandr Leonidovych Kravchuk (born 1959), president of the State Company "Nafkom-Ahro" and the former FC Nafkom Brovary . Kravchuk had two grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. After Kravchuk stopped working for

4160-432: Was caused because he felt Yanukovych "turned his back" on all the issues Kravchuk wanted him to address as president: the Ukrainian language , culture , and the Holodomor . "Only the dead or the stupid do not change their views", he stated in December 2009 when he also voiced the opinion that voting for Yanukovych in the second round of the 2010 elections would indicate an anti-Ukrainian position. In July 2020, Kravchuk

4225-401: Was chosen to represent Ukraine at the Trilateral Contact Group (formed to facilitate a diplomatic resolution to the war in Donbas ), being appointed to replace Leonid Kuchma . He maintained this position until February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine . Kravchuk had heart surgery in June 2021. He was reportedly in ill health by this time. On 29 June 2021, he missed the solemn meeting of

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