Iryna Somer ( uk, Ірина Сомер; born April 9, 1970) is a Ukrainian journalist who specializes in international issues, mainly the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
.
Early life
Somer was born on April 9, 1970, in
Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, a ...
, Ukraine. In 1993, she graduated from the University of Zhytomyr with a degree in
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...
.
Career
After graduation, she joined the Zhytomyr Literary Museum as a research assistant. Her research of the romantic relationship of the outstanding Ukrainian poet Oleksandr Olesya with his future wife Vera Svadkovskaya, who once lived in Zhytomyr, was published in the journal “ Word and Time” (“Cлово і Час”). City radio interviewed Somer on this topic and in 1994 she was invited to work there as a correspondent. In 1996, her radio report was heard by the editor-in-chief of the largest regional newspaper Echo, who invited her to work there.
In 1998, the trial of the serial killer Anatoly Onoprienko, who was accused of killing 52 people, including children, began in Zhytomyr. Somer covered the process not only for the Echo newspaper, but also for the country's leading mass media, in particular, for the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. After the trial she interviewed Onoprienko in jail.
In 1999, at the invitation of the Interfax-Ukraine, she began working as a correspondent, covering events related to issues of national security and defence (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Defence, GPU, NATO, National Security and Defence Council). In 2000, she covered the first NATO civil emergency exercise in Ukraine. Her interviewees include
Secretary General of NATO
The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, leading NATO's international staff ...