Yevgeny Vitalyevich Balitsky (russian: Евгений Витальевич Бали́цкий, uk, Євген Віталійович Балицький, translit= Yevhen Vitaliiovych Balytskyi; born 10 December 1969) is a Russian and Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur currently serving as the acting Governor of the

Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast The Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast is an ongoing military occupation, which began on 24 February 2022, as Russian forces invaded Ukraine and began capturing the southern portion of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. On 26 February, the city of ...

from 4 October 2022. He also de jure serves as a deputy of the

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council The Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council ( uk, Запорізька обласна рада) is the regional oblast council (parliament) of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (province) located in eastern Ukraine. Council members are elected for five year terms. In ...

. Previously was Head of Zaporizhzhia military–civilian administration from since 9 May 2022. Also, previously served as a People's Deputy of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in the 7th and 8th convocations of 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 ...

(Ukraine's

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

). Born in

Melitopol Melitopol ( uk, Меліто́поль, translit=Melitópol’, ; russian: Мелитополь; based on el, Μελιτόπολις - "honey city") is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Zaporizhz ...

to a military family, Balitsky served in the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

and

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. W ...

before entering business, serving as head of a household appliance company in Melitopol. He entered politics as an independent member of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council before joining 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 ...

in 2004. Balitsky served two terms as a People's Deputy of Ukraine, the first as a member of the Party of Regions and the second as a member of the

Opposition Bloc russian: Оппозиционный блок , colorcode = , logo = Opposition Bloc.png , logo_size = 240px , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Rinat Akhmetov (one wing)Dmytro Firtash & Yuriy Boyko ( ...

. Following 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 ...

, Balitsky began to collaborate with Russian authorities. Originally suspected to be ''de facto'' mayor of Melitopol 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 ...

, he was later appointed as Governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast by Russian authorities on 9 May 2022, amidst the occupation of the southern parts of the oblast by the Russian military.

Early life and career

Yevhen Vitaliiovych Balitsky was born in

, then in the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, on 10 December 1969, to a family of military aviators. In 1987, he graduated from high school. In 1991, he graduated from Tambov Higher Military Aviation School as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. For the next four years, he served in various aviation garrisons, and in 1995 was transferred to the reserves from Melitopol Regiment military transport aircraft with the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. From 1995 to 1997, he was the head of the OlZheKa company, which sold and repaired household appliances in Melitopol. In 1996, OlZheKa established the first FM radio station in Melitopol, called Southern Space. From 1997 to 2007, Balitsky was head of the Melitopol Brewery, and only in 2007 sold a controlling stake in this company. Since 2000, led Melitopol Avtogidroagregat, a tractor parts company. As of 2012, he was deputy director for economics at Melitopol Avtogidroagregat. Both Melitopol Brewery and Avtogidroagregat achieved economic success under Balitsky's leadership.

Regional politics

From 1998 to 2002, Balitsky was a deputy of the

, as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. In 2004, he joined the

, and from 2010 to 2012 again served as a deputy of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council for this party. This time serving as a member of the Standing Committee on the Budget, as well as the Acting Director of the Department in the Ministry of Economy and European Integration.

National politics

From 2012 to 2019, Balitsky was a

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 ...

, serving in the

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

and

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a speci ...

of the

(Ukraine's national parliament). He was elected both times as member of Zaporizhia Oblast district No. 80, a multi-member district comprising

and

Melitopol Raion Melitopol Raion ( uk, Мелітопольський район) is one of the five raions (districts) of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southern Ukraine under occupation by Russia. The administrative center of the region is Melitopol. Population: . On 1 ...

. In the

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.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 ...

and in 2014 reelected as a self-nominated candidate.Small biography on Yevgeny Balitsky

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 ...

On 14 February 2014, he was elected deputy chairman of the Melitopol organisation of the Party of Regions. In April, Balitsky noted environmental problems at

Molochnyi Lyman __NOTOC__ Molochnyi Estuary, or Molochnyi Lyman ( uk, Молочний лиман), is an estuary of the Molochna River, located on the north-western coast of the Sea of Azov. About 10km north is the town of Melitopol. Parameters of the water body ...

. On 3 June 2014, Balitsky left the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada, later joining the

in May 2015. 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 ...

Balitsky failed to get reelected in district No. 80, this time for the party

. In this election he gained 29.5% of the votes in the constituency, while winner Serhii Minko won with 33.13%.

Collaboration with Russian forces

In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections Balitsky was again elected as a deputy of the

for the party

. Following the capture of Melitopol by Russian forces during the

, Balitsky assisted in the establishment of a new, pro-Russian government in the city. The

(SBU) has claimed that Balitsky is the

grey eminence Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

of the occupation in Melitopol. On 9 May 2022, it was reported that Balitsky was appointed

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia Oblast. Balitsky became a member of

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Conservatism in Russia, Russian conservative List of political parties in Russia, political party. As the largest party in Russia, it hold ...

on 26 September 2022. On 30 September 2022, Balitsky and the other pro-Russian occupation heads,

Denis Pushilin Denis Vladimirovich Pushilin (russian: Дени́с Влади́мирович Пуши́лин, ; uk, Денис Володимирович Пушилін, Denys Volodymyrovych Pushylin; born 9 May 1981) is a Russian and Ukrainian politician ...

, Leonid Pasechnik and

Volodymyr Saldo Volodymyr Vasylovych Saldo (, ; born 12 June 1956) is a Russian and former Ukrainian politician serving as the head of the collaborationist Kherson military–civilian administration in Russian-occupied Ukraine since 26 April 2022. Early li ...

, attended the ceremony in Moscow during which

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

formally announced the

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

Awards

* 2013 –

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

, Third degree

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balitsky, Evgenij 21st-century Ukrainian politicians 1969 births People from Melitopol Living people Russian nationalists Seventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Party of Regions politicians Opposition Bloc politicians Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Ukrainian collaborators with Russia during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine United Russia politicians Pro-Russian people of the war in Donbas Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Ukraine