Oleksiy Valeriyovych Zhuravko ( uk, Олексій Валерійович Журавко, ; 21 April 1974 – 25 September 2022) was a Ukrainian and Russian politician who was a member of Ukraine's national parliament

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 ...

from 2006 to 2012. He was a member of the pro-Russian

Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of U ...

from 2006. Zhuravko moved to Russia in 2015. He acquired Russian citizenship and joined the

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Russian conservative political party. As the largest party in Russia, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma , havin ...

party in July 2022. He died in September 2022 in a missile attack in Kherson during the Ukrainian southern counteroffensive.

Early life and education

Born on 21 April 1974 in Zhovti Vody, Zhuravko lived in an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or ab ...

from 1974 to 1978.Small biography on Oleksii Zhuravko

Civil movement "Chesno" Chesno ( uk, Чесно, lit=honestly, fairly) is a Ukrainian public campaign that emerged late 2011 to advance a fair election process. It is widely known for its critical analysis and evaluation of politicians and the Verkhovna Rada (parliame ...

In 1978, he moved to a boarding school in

Tsiurupynsk Oleshky ( uk, Оле́шки, Oleshky, ; russian: Алёшки) is a town in Kherson Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine, located on the left bank of the Dnieper River with the town of Solontsi to the south. It is the oldest city of the obla ...

where he lived until 1990. From 1990 until his return to Tsiurupynsk in 1993, Zhuravko had his

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...

in a boarding school in

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...

. Beginning in 1997, Zhuravko started several companies aimed at the disabled in Ukraine in Tsiurupynsk. In 2007, Zhuravko completed his education at the Kherson State University, majoring in economic theory. The same year, Zhuravko and his wife, Anzhela (born 1986), had a daughter.

Political career

Zhuravko failed to be elected in the

2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2002. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 The Our Ukraine bloc emerged as the largest faction in the Verkhovna Rada, winning 111 of the 447 sea ...

as a candidate of

For United Ukraine! For United Ukraine! ( uk, «За Єдину Україну!», translit=Za Yedynu Ukrayinu!) was a political alliance and an electoral bloc in Ukraine founded in December 2001 to participate in the parliamentary election held on 30 March 2002. ...

in Kherson Oblast's electoral district 183. In 2004, Zhuravko became chairman or the Union of Public Organizations "Confederation of Public Organizations of Disabled People of Ukraine." Zhuravko was awarded the Ukrainian Order of Merit twice. Third Class in 2000 and Second Class in 2004. In the 2006 and 2007 parliamentary election Zhuravko was elected to the

(Ukraine's national parliament) for the

. In 2006, he was placed 118th on the party list, and the following year he dropped 22 places. In the 2012 parliamentary election, Zhuravko again failed to be elected; this time as a Party of Regions candidate in electoral district 186 (also located in Kherson Oblast). On 17 April 2013, Zhuravko was appointed Government Commissioner for the Rights of the Disabled. This position was abolished on 5 March 2014. Zhuravko moved to Russia in 2015. On 21 February 2015, he attended an anti- Euromaidan rally/commemoration in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. In October 2015, Zhuravko was reportedly "hiding from Ukrainian authorities" and openly supporting separatism. In December 2015, Zhuravko's title of honorary citizen of

was removed. In January 2018, a pre-trial investigation was started into his alleged financing of the Donetsk People's Republic and

Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk or Lugansk People's Republic (russian: Луга́нская Наро́дная Респу́блика, Luganskaya Narodnaya Respublika, ; abbreviated as LPR or LNR, rus, ЛНР) is a disputed entity created by Russian-backed ...

quasi-states proclaimed within the territory of Ukraine. Zhuravko acquired Russian citizenship and joined the

party in July 2022. Following the February

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. ...

, he returned to Russian occupied Kherson in late April of 2022. On 22 September 2022, Zhuravko published a video in which he cast his vote in Kherson at the 2022 annexation referendums. He stated that the Kherson Oblast's (Russian) occupation was the region's "liberation from

Ukrainian nationalists Ukrainian nationalism refers to the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and it also refers to the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The nation building that arose as nationalism grew following the French Revol ...

." Zhuravko called on Russia "to complete the special operation and reach the western borders of Ukraine in order to liberate the country from the nationalists." He became wanted by the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...

and was suspected of actions "aimed at violently changing or overthrowing the constitutional order or seizing state power". Zhuravko was killed on 25 September 2022, during the Ukrainian southern counteroffensive, in a missile strike on Kherson which pro-Kremlin authorities blamed on Ukraine.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhuravko, Oleksii 1974 births 2022 deaths People from Zhovti Vody Ukrainian politicians with disabilities Ukrainian emigrants to Russia Naturalised citizens of Russia Party of Regions politicians United Russia politicians Fifth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Ukrainian collaborators with Russia Deaths by airstrike during the Russian invasion of Ukraine Civilians killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Kherson State University alumni Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class 20th-century Ukrainian people 21st-century Ukrainian people