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 The Communist Party of Ukraine, Abbreviation: KPU, from Ukrainian and Russian "" is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 as the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine which was banned in 1991 (accord ...

. Symonenko was the Communist Party's candidate in the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, 2010 and until his withdrawal, the 2014 presidential election. The

Central Election Commission of Ukraine The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ( uk, Центральна виборча комісія України, commonly abbreviated in Ukrainian as ЦВК (''Tse-Ve-Ka''); sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukrai ...

prohibited his candidacy for the

2019 Ukrainian presidential election The 2019 Ukrainian presidential election was held on 31 March and 21 April in a two-round system. There were 39 candidates for the election on the ballot. The 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and the occupation of parts of Donetsk Oblas ...

due to the fact that the statute, name and symbolism of the Communist Party of Ukraine did not comply with 2015 decommunization laws.The CEC refused to register nearly fifty presidential candidates

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukra ...

(8 February 2019)

Biography

Symonenko was born in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loc ...

. He became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1978, and worked as a party

functionary An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either th ...

in the 1980s. He has been the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the

since 1993. He is also the Chairman of the Communist Party Faction in the

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 ...

(parliament)."Opening of the First Session of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 6th Convocation"
Verkhovna Rada website, 23 November 2007. Symonenko has been a Ukrainian delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. From 1994 to 1996 he was a member of the Ukrainian parliament's Constitution Commission. He was a candidate in the

1999 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October 1999, with a second round on 14 November. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 1976. The result was a victory for Leonid Kuchma, who defeated Petro S ...

, receiving 22.24% of the votes in the first round and taking second place. In the second round he won 37.8% of the votes, losing to

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma ( uk, Леоні́д Дани́лович Ку́чма; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corrup ...

. His election program had classic communist content. In late 2002

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. As an informal leader of th ...

( Our Ukraine),

Oleksandr Moroz Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Morozrussian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Моро́з, translit=Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Moroz (born 29 February 1944) is a Ukrainian politician. He was the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada twice ...

(

Socialist Party of Ukraine The Socialist Party of Ukraine ( uk, Соціалістична Партія України, translit=Sotsialistychna Partiia Ukrayiny, SPU) was a social democratic and democratic socialist political party in Ukraine. It was one of the oldest pa ...

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc ( uk, Блок Юлії Тимошенко, БЮТ; Blok Yuliyi Tymoshenko, BYuT) was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of blocs ...

) and Symonenko issued a joint statement concerning "the beginning of a state

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

in Ukraine". The communist left the alliance, Symonenko was against a single candidate from the alliance in the Ukrainian presidential election 2004, but the other three parties remained allies (until July 2006). Symonenko's support sharply declined at the time of the 2004 presidential election. Symonenko received 5% of the votes and came in fourth place, unable to get into the controversial runoff which caused the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...

. Symonenko was re-elected to the

in the September 2007 parliamentary election."The Makeup of the New Verkhovna Rada"
, ''Ukrayinska Pravda'', November 5, 2007. At the opening of the new parliament's first session on 23 November 2007, he was re-elected as Chairman of the Communist Party faction. During the 2010 presidential election he was the candidate of the Bloc of Left and Center-left Forces,Bloc of left and center-left forces to nominate CPU Leader for Ukraine's president

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 ...

(October 3, 2009) receiving 3.54% of the votes. In

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.Список депутатів нової Верховної Ради

(11 November 2012) 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.federalization Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single p ...

-platform that should have eventually led to a "

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, t ...

without the institution of the presidency at all".Leader of Communist party stands for step-by-step transition to federation followed by elimination of post of president

(8 April 2014) But he withdrew from the race on 16 May.Communist leader Symonenko withdraws his candidacy from presidential race

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. ...

(16 May 2014) He stated he withdrew "to save Ukraine from arbitrariness, which takes place today" and said about the elections itself "in our opinion they will be illegitimate". Later the same day, Symonenko's car was attacked by a mob with baseball bats and Molotov cocktails as he left a TV interview. He was uninjured in the incident. 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.
Results election of Ukrainian president
Телеграф (29 May 2014) The

did not register his candidacy for the

due to the fact that the statute, name and symbolism of the Communist Party of Ukraine did not comply with 2015 decommunization laws. In late May 2021, TV channel

112 Ukraine 112 Ukraine ( uk, 112 Україна) was a private Ukrainian TV channel which provided 24-hour news coverage. 112 Ukraine was available on satellites AMOS 2/3, via the DVB-T2 network, and was also available in packages of all major Ukrainian ca ...

received a fine of ₴100,000 for broadcasting Symonenko's claim that the

War in Donbas 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 regula ...

was a "

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

" initiated by "

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 ...

and

neo-fascists Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration senti ...

supported by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

." During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he has (as reports

Obozrevatel "Obozrevatel" (; ) is a Ukrainian Internet publication of socio-political orientation, created in 2001. It belongs to Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur Mykhailo Brodskyy. In the publication, he holds the position of the chairman of the editori ...

) taken a pro-Russian stance.А куда пропал Петр Симоненко? Оккупанты помогли ему выехать

(12 May 2022) In March 2022 Symonenko managed to escape from

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 ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

during the Kyiv offensive with the assistance of Russian forces, according to the Ukrainian internet newspaper

Political Positions

On 28 November 2006, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) narrowly passed a law defining the

Holodomor The Holodomor ( uk, Голодомо́р, Holodomor, ; derived from uk, морити голодом, lit=to kill by starvation, translit=moryty holodom, label=none), also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, was a man-made famin ...

as a deliberate act of genocide and made public denial illegal. Commenting in 2007, Symonenko said he "does not believe there was any deliberate starvation at all," and accused

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

of "using the famine to stir up hatred." In response, Yushchenko declared he wants "a new law criminalising Holodomor denial."Laura Sheeter
"Ukraine remembers famine horror"
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 24 November 2007 In May 2012, Symonenko defended the

deportation of the Crimean Tatars The deportation of the Crimean Tatars ( crh, Qırımtatar halqınıñ sürgünligi, Cyrillic: Къырымтатар халкъынынъ сюргюнлиги) or the Sürgünlik ('exile') was the ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide of at ...

, saying that this measure saved Crimean Tatars, because otherwise a civil war would have started.Симоненко заявил, что крымских татар депортировали, чтобы защитить
''

UNIAN The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...

'', 16 May 2012

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Symonenko, Petro 1952 births Living people Politicians from Donetsk Communist Party of Ukraine politicians Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) politicians Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Third convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Fourth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Fifth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Seventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Candidates in the 1999 Ukrainian presidential election Candidates in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election Candidates in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election Candidates in the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election People of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine