Dmytro Borysovych Tymchuk ( uk, Дмитро́ Бори́сович Тимчу́к; 27 June 1972 – 19 June 2019) was a

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, a Ukrainian military expert and blogger, an officer of the Ukrainian military reserve (''

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

''), and one of the coordinators of the ''Information Resistance'' blog. During the ongoing

2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the Eastern Ukraine, eastern and Southern Ukraine, southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dig ...

, he became one of the most popular Ukrainian online activists and was extensively cited on the situation in the country. In 2014 Tymchuk was elected to the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

for the People's Front.

Early life and education

Tymchuk was born 27 June 1972 in Chita,

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. From 1978 to 1983, he lived in the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

due to his father's service in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

and then moved to

Berdychiv Berdychiv ( uk, Берди́чів, ; pl, Berdyczów; yi, באַרדיטשעװ, Barditshev; russian: Берди́чев, Berdichev) is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

, where he spent the rest of his youth. (Both Russia and Ukraine were part of the Soviet Union from 1920 until Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union on 24 August 1991.) In 1995, Tymchuk graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

Higher Military-Political School (Soviet predecessor of the

Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy The Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Army Academy is one of the leading educational institutions in the military education system of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, founded originally in 1899 as a school of infantry cadets. It is engaged ...

Career

Tymchuk served in the

Ukrainian army The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They we ...

from 1995 to 1997 and then worked at the headquarters of the

National Guard of Ukraine The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; uk, Націона́льна гва́рдія Украї́ни, Natsionalna hvardiia Ukrainy, , ) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and Internal Troops, internal military force. It is part of the Minist ...

until 2000. From 2000 to 2012, he worked in various divisions of the

Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

. He served in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

, and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. His highest military rank is

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. In 2008, Tymchuk became the chief editor of the

online publication Electronic publishing (also referred to as publishing, digital publishing, or online publishing) includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. It also includes the editing ...

''Fleet-2017'' and head of the

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

''Center for Military-Political Studies''. He is one of the coordinators of the ''Information Resistance'' news website. During the

and

war in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

, Tymchuk became one of the most popular Ukrainian online activists in Ukraine and was extensively cited on the situation in the country. In November 2014, the number of those following his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page exceeded 190,000

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...

es. Tymchuk became a founding member of the new party People's Front on 10 September 2014, 46 days before the

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May.Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

(Ukrainian parliament).

Death

On 19 June 2019, Tymchuk was found dead in his home from a firearm injury to his head. According to media reports and the preliminary working version of the

Kyiv police The Main Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Kyiv ( uk, ГУМВС України в м. Києві – Головне управління МВС України в м. Києві) was a police force established in 1858 in Kyiv as the '' ...

he was cleaning his gun and accidentally discharged it.

References

External links

Information resistance

Facebook page

Tymchuk at Maidan Translations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tymchuk, Dmytro 1972 births 2019 deaths Pro-Ukrainian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Ukrainian journalists Ukrainian military personnel People from Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai Internet activists People's Front (Ukraine) politicians Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Pro-Ukrainian people of the war in Donbas Deaths by firearm in Ukraine Recipients of the Order For Courage, 3rd class