Lesia Volodymyrivna Vasylenko ( uk, Леся Володимирівна Василенко; born March 31, 1987) is a Ukrainian lawyer and politician serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine in the

9th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 9th convocation ( uk, Верховна Рада України IX скликання, ) is the current convocation of the legislative branch of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Unicameralism, unicameral parliamen ...

. Vasylenko is a member of the Ukrainian permanent delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up o ...

and president of the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...

's Bureau of Women Parliamentarians. She is the founder of , a human rights

non-governmental organization 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 ...

that provides assistance to servicemen and veterans.

Early life and education

Vasylenko was born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Volodymyr Vasylenko Volodymyr Andriyovych Vasylenko ( uk, Володи́мир Андрі́йович Василе́нко; birth: January 16, 1937, Kiev, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian diplomat who has twice served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukrain ...

, a

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activist. She completed a master's degree in international law at the of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and an LL.M. at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Career

Vasylenko worked as a corporate lawyer. At the beginning of the

Euromaidan revolution The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,

in 2013, she protested frequently at the

Maidan Nezalezhnosti Maidan Nezalezhnosti ( uk, Майдан Незалежності , literally "Independence Square") is the central square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchen ...

. After visiting a hospital during the war in Donbas in June 2014, Vasylenko learned that wounded soldiers were unaware of their rights to compensation. Many of the soldiers she spoke with struggled to pay for their medical treatments. In January 2015, she founded , a human rights

that provides assistance to servicemen and veterans. In 2016, Vasylenko was named by the ''

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

'' as one of the top 30 young under-30 leaders. In June 2019, it was announced that Vasylenko and

Oleksandra Ustinova Oleksandra Ustinova (Ukrainian: Олександра Юріївна Устінова, romanized: Oleksandra Yuriivna Ustinova; born 2 October 1985 in Vinnytsia) is a Ukrainian politician and public activist. Since 2019 serving as a People's Deput ...

would be joining the Holos party. In the

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, these elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolv ...

, Vasylenko was elected a People's Deputy of Ukraine of the

. She is a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management. Vasylenko is a member of the permanent delegation to the

. Vasylenko is a member of the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation to the

where she serves as president of its Bureau of Women Parliamentarians. She is co-chair of the interparliamentary relations group to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. On 12 December 2019, Vasylenko joined , an inter-factional association to promote humanistic values and prevent

cruelty to animals Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or suf ...

. During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Vasylenko armed herself with several guns to protect her family. She said on 26 February 2022 that the Russian military was targeting Ukrainian civilians to make the country surrender. On 1 March, Vasylenko evacuated her three children from her home in Kyiv. On 4 March, she said the invasion was the start of

World War III World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical World war, worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use ...

. Vasylenko became one of the initiators of the international #unrussiaUN campaign aimed at excluding Russia from the UN.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasylenko, Lesia Living people 1987 births 21st-century Ukrainian lawyers 21st-century Ukrainian women politicians 21st-century women lawyers Activists from Kyiv Alumni of University College London Human rights lawyers Inter-Parliamentary Union Lawyers from Kyiv Ninth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Politicians from Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of International Relations alumni Ukrainian human rights activists Ukrainian women activists Ukrainian women lawyers Voice (Ukrainian political party) politicians Women human rights activists Women members of the Verkhovna Rada