Oleg Anatolyevich Tsaryov (russian: Олег Анатольевич Царёв; uk, Олег Анатолійович Царьов, Oleh Anatioliyovych Tsarov; born 2 June 1970) is a Ukrainian businessman, politician and former separatist official in
eastern Ukraine
Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khark ...
.
Tsaryov is a former
People's Deputy of Ukraine
People's, branded as ''People's Viennaline'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH'', is an Austrian airline headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights ma ...
elected for the
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 Uk ...
who was expelled from the party on 7 April 2014.
On 26 July 2014, he became the speaker of the Parliament of Novorossiya, a confederation that includes the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and served until its dissolution on 18 May 2015. He has been wanted by Ukrainian police since June 2014 for promoting separatism and violence.
Biography
Early life
Tsaryov was born 2 June 1970 in Dnipropetrovsk (now
Dnipro
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
Moscow Engineering Physics Institute
National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute) (russian: Национальный исследовательский ядерный университет "МИФИ" / НИЯУ МИФИ or ) is a technical un ...
in 1992 with a degree in engineering and physics.
Business career
Tsaryov started his career in 1992 as an engineer for the preparation of production at "Avteks" (Автекс), a specialized small business in Dnipropetrovsk. Then in 1993 he became head of the Ukrainian financial insurance company "Confidence" (Доверие). After leaving Confidence in 1995, he held a succession of senior positions at the Dnipropetrovsk Computer Centre Ltd (Днепропетровский компьютерный центр), a company called Silicon Valley (Кремниевая долина), and then the Dnipropetrovsk Paper Mill (Днепропетровская бумажная фабрика).
His company "Dniprobuminvest" went bankrupt in March 2014.
Election to national parliament
Tsaryov became a People's Deputy of Ukraine (народний депутат України) 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 seats ...
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 Uk ...
2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
Tsaryov was re-elected to parliament as number 35 on the election list of Party of Regions.Small biography of Oleh Tsayrov RBK Ukraine (2007)
And again on the same list but now placed 114th in the
2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovna ...
Euromaidan
Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...
protest. He called these protesters "terrorists, bandits and extremists."
2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
Tsaryov was a self-nominated candidate in the
2014 Ukrainian presidential election
Snap presidential elections held in Ukraine on 25 May 2014 resulted in Petro Poroshenko being elected President of Ukraine.Twenty-three candidates to run for Ukraine's presidency
Interfax-Ukraine
The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...
(3 April 2014) On 29 March a Party of Regions convention supported Mykhailo Dobkin nomination as a presidential candidate. On 7 April 2014 the political council of that party expelled Tsaryov from the party. On 11 April 2014 Tsaryov travelled to Donetsk and said he was ready to become a leader of the so-called "South-east movement". According to one source quoted by the National Press Agency of Ukraine, Tsaryov also assured separatists in Donetsk that would do everything to disrupt the May 25, 2014 presidential elections. "I'm sure that will be no elections," he said. He then promised that he would create a "central authority" within the center of Donetsk. On 14 April, Oleg Tsaryov was beaten by a mob after an interview in the ICTV building in Kyiv. The beating was denied by some,Ukraine's Pro-Russian Candidate Quits Presidential Race
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
(29 April 2014) though press agencies published videos of the mob and photos of Oleg Tsaryov half-naked with bruises. After this beating he stated "I am against a third party interfering in the affairs of Ukraine. Until we learn to listen to each other, Ukraine will stand no chance". At the time opinion polls showed Tsaryov had a rating lower than the sociological error.
Tsaryov withdrew his presidential candidacy on 29 April. He claimed to so because it was dangerous for him to continue his presidential campaign and meet with voters in Kyiv (earlier that month Tsaryov said he had been beaten by pro-Western radical Ukrainian activists in Kyiv). Tsaryov called on "all presidential candidates representing Ukraine's eastern and southeastern regions" (namely)
Petro Symonenko
Petro Mykolayovych Symonenko ( uk, Петро́ Микола́йович Симоне́нко; born 1 August 1952) is a Ukrainian politician and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Symonenko was the Co ...
Serhiy Tihipko
Serhiy Leonidovych Tihipko ( uk, Сергій Леонідович Тiгiпко; born 13 February 1960) is a Ukrainian politician and finance specialist who was Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine. Tihipko was Minister of Economics in 2000 and subse ...
and
Renat Kuzmin
Renat Raveliyovych Kuzmin ( uk, Ренат Равелійович Кузьмін, born 12 July 1967) is First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine (2010-2013), State Counselor of Justice 1st class, public servant 1st rank.
In the 2019 Ukrainian p ...
to boycott the election; because "An election that is being held while a civil war is unfolding must be boycotted". He added that if they did not withdrew they would be "playing into the hands of the illegitimate authorities and legitimizing not only them but also their decision to start a civil war against the eastern regions".Ukrainian presidential candidate Tsariov withdraws from race
Interfax-Ukraine
The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...
(29 April 2014) After the elections Tsaryov refused to recognize the election as legitimate; as he claimed "it was a choice only of half of Ukraine".
Separatism
On 13 May 2014 Tsaryov was sanctioned by the European Union for calling for the creation of Federal State of Novorossiya. Also in May 2014, a recording of a death threat phone call allegedly made to Tsaryov by the governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and owner of PrivatBank, Ihor Kolomoyskyi, began circulating in social media. In the call, Kolomoyskyi told Tsaryov that there was a bounty of $1 million on his head, and to stay in Moscow if he did not want to be killed. Tsaryov said that the call was authentic.
On 3 June 2014 Tsaryov was stripped of his parliamentary immunity by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) who also sanctioned his arrest. Tsaryov is now wanted for making "public calls to overthrow the existing constitutional system in Ukraine, change its state borders and stage acts of disobedience, which entailed grave consequences and caused many casualties among law enforcers and peaceful civilians".
On 26 June 2014 Tsaryov became Speaker of the "Unity Parliament" of the self-proclaimedconfederation of
Donetsk People's Republic
The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a Territorial ...
eastern Ukraine
Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khark ...
) Novorossiya.
Russian prosecutors refuse to extradite Tsaryov to Ukraine and (according to Ukraine falsely) state that they have not received such a request from Ukraine.
On 20 May 2015 Tsaryov announced the termination of the Novorossiya confederation. He stated this was done because the confederation did not comply with the Minsk II accords.
In 2018 Ukrainian media suspected that Tsaryov was living in Russia, probably in Russian annexedCrimea.
Donbas
The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...
"; this announcement was followed by a large scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The United States intelligence community named Tsaryov as a possible Kremlin supported choice to lead a pro-Russian puppet Ukrainian government. On the (first) morning of the invasion Tsaryov declared "as promised, the
denazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
operation has begun." He also claimed he was "already in Ukraine" and that " Kyiv will be liberated from the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
."
On 15 March 2022 Russian channel RT released an interview with Tsaryov in which he claimed he was in Ukraine and providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainian territory under control of Russian troops.
On 20 March 2022, Tsaryov called on the acting mayor of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul (while claiming "his" Russian troops "are now near Kryvyi Rih") to surrender the city to Russian troops. Tsaryov addressed Vikul as "used to be my fellow party members" and claimed that Vikul had "always taken a pro-Russian stance". On Facebook Vikul answered Tsaryov: "Fuck you, traitor, along with your masters!".
On 24 March 2022, Tsaryov announced Russia's decision to "create military-civilian administrations in the occupied territories, which will assume all the power of authority" and added that "this krainehas always been and will be Russian land and we are restoring sovereignty over this land."
On 2 April 2022 Russian forces gave up its attempts to gain control over Kyiv, and thus the possibility for creating a puppet Ukrainian government, when it abandoned its Kyiv offensive.
After the visit of Boris Johnson to Kyiv on April 10, Tsaryov suggested shooting down airplanes with foreign politicians.
Family life
Tsaryov is married to Larissa (born in 1968) and has a daughter (born in 1999) and son (born in 1995), who both study in the United Kingdom. He has another daughter, born in 2003.
In December 2022 Tsaryov's brother Mykhailo was convicted for "terrorism" after being accused of preparing a series of explosions at strategically important objects in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast for an alleged promise to appoint him Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast if the province would be occupied by Russia.
Political views
In his election program for the
2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election
The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.Kyiv in 2004 against the " orange" disorder. I fought against fascists and nationalists of all stripes. I have always advocated Ukraine's non-aligned status, I am opposed to joining NATO. I stand for friendship with Russia, the Russian language and our great history - the story of Zhukov and
Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Tr ...
…" In March 2022 Tsaryov claimed that "this krainehas always been and will be Russian land and we are restoring sovereignty over this land."
As a People's Deputy of Ukraine of the
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 Uk ...
Euromaidan
Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...
. He called these protesters "terrorists, bandits and extremists." On 9 December 2013 Tsaryov requested to the Security Service and Foreign Ministry of Ukraine to deport or/and ban foreign organizers and political consultants of the Euromaidan protests, document scans of which he posted (and later removed) on his Facebook account. Among those named in the document notably included Andreas Umland,
Stanislav Belkovsky
Stanislav Aleksandrovich Belkovsky (russian: Станисла́в Алекса́ндрович Белко́вский, born 7 February 1971, Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian political analyst and communication specialist. He is a founder and ...
Gleb Pavlovsky
Gleb Olegovich Pavlovsky (russian: Глеб Оле́гович Павло́вский; born 5 March 1951) is a Russian political scientist who also describes himself as a "political technologist". During the Soviet era, he was prosecuted as a d ...
, and former
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...