The first president of independent Ukraine and one of the gravediggers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Leonid Kravchuk, died at the age of 88, in full invasion of his country by Russia, report the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschkoand the adviser to the Minister of Home Affairs, Anton Gerashchenko.
“It is a great loss for all of Ukraine. Today Leonid Kravchuk is dead. The first president of Ukraine, the first chairman of the Rada [Parlement ukrainien] and the man behind the modern Ukrainian state”Mr. Klitschko wrote.
He greeted a man who “wasn’t scared” to take the reins of the country during the turbulent 1990s, after the fall of the USSR. “It was under his chairmanship that the Parliament adopted the act of proclamation of the independence of Ukrainerecalled Mr. Klitschko. He remained faithful to his country until the last moment and sought, through his experience and his knowledge, to improve our lives. And he succeeded. »
Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of Volodymyr Zelensky, regretted on Telegram a ” big loss “greeting a “wise patriot” and an “truly historic figure”. “He experienced tumultuous times for our country, difficult and historic decisions, the formation of Ukrainian independence”MP Dmytro Razoumkov wrote on Facebook.
“For our independence and our freedom, we are fighting today. In a terrible war against the Russian invader. »
The last leader of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
A former apparatchik, he distanced himself from the Communist Party in 1991. Mr. Kravtchouk was the last leader of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, between 1990 and 1991, before being the first president of independent Ukraine, from 1991 to 1994.
On August 21, 2001, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine with the state order for his outstanding personal contribution to the formation and development of an independent Ukrainian state.
He died nearly a week after Stanislav Chouchkevitch, at the age of 87. Mr. Shuchkevich was the first president of independent Belarus and one of the gravediggers of the USSR. With Leonid Kravchuk and the Russian Boris Yeltsin, they had signed the Minsk agreement, shortly after forcing Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR, to resign, thus signing the death warrant of the Soviet empire that he then tried to reform.