Viktor Yushchenko

Viktor Yushchenko
Name	Viktor Yushchenko
Caption	Yushchenko in 2008
Office	3rd President of Ukraine
Term start	23 January 2005
Term end	25 February 2010
Predecessor	Leonid Kuchma
Successor	Viktor Yanukovych
Birth date	23 February 1954
Birth place	Khoruzhivka, Sumy Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Party	Our Ukraine (2005–2013)
Otherparty	People's Movement of Ukraine (before 2005)
Spouse	Kateryna Yushchenko (m. 1998), Svitlana Kolesnyk (m. 1977; div. 1998)
Alma mater	Ternopil Finance and Economics Institute
Religion	Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

Viktor Yushchenko is a Ukrainian politician who served as the third President of Ukraine from 2005 to 2010. His ascent to power was a defining moment in modern Ukrainian history, stemming from the Orange Revolution, a series of mass protests against electoral fraud. His presidency was marked by efforts to integrate with the European Union and NATO, though it was also characterized by political instability and economic challenges. Prior to his presidency, he served as the Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine and as Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Early life and career

Born in the village of Khoruzhivka in the Sumy Oblast, then part of the Soviet Union, he graduated from the Ternopil Finance and Economics Institute. He began his career as an accountant on a collective farm before joining the State Bank of the USSR. Following Ukrainian independence in 1991, he rose rapidly within the newly formed National Bank of Ukraine, becoming its chairman in 1993. In this role, he was instrumental in introducing the national currency, the Ukrainian hryvnia, in 1996, earning a reputation as a skilled reformer. His economic expertise led to his appointment as Prime Minister of Ukraine in 1999 under President Leonid Kuchma, where he implemented pro-market policies until his dismissal in 2001.

Orange Revolution

The Orange Revolution was a pivotal series of protests that erupted following the Ukrainian presidential election, 2004. The official results, which declared Viktor Yanukovych the winner, were widely seen as fraudulent, engineered by the outgoing administration of Leonid Kuchma with support from Russia. In response, hundreds of thousands of citizens, clad in orange, the campaign color, flooded Independence Square in Kyiv and other cities. The movement was spearheaded by a coalition between him and his running mate, Yulia Tymoshenko. After weeks of sustained civil disobedience and international pressure, the Supreme Court of Ukraine annulled the results, ordering a revote. He won the December 2004 revote decisively, with observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe declaring it fair.

Presidency

His inauguration in January 2005 ushered in a period of high hopes for democratic and pro-Western change. Key foreign policy goals included securing a Membership Action Plan for NATO and deepening ties with the European Union, ambitions that faced strong opposition from Moscow. Domestically, his administration reprivatized the giant Kryvorizhstal steel mill, but his pro-reform coalition with Yulia Tymoshenko fractured quickly, leading to political paralysis. A protracted constitutional conflict with the Verkhovna Rada and the Prime Minister weakened his authority. The 2008 Russo-Georgian War and the subsequent 2008–2009 Ukrainian financial crisis further challenged his administration, and he left office with low approval ratings.

Post-presidency

After leaving the presidency in 2010, his political influence waned significantly. He remained active with the Our Ukraine party but failed to regain major electoral success. He was a vocal critic of his successor, Viktor Yanukovych, particularly following the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and the subsequent Russian annexation of Crimea. In later years, he has occasionally commented on national affairs but largely remains outside the core of Ukrainian politics.

Personal life

He was first married to Svitlana Kolesnyk, with whom he has two children. In 1998, he married Kateryna Chumachenko, a Ukrainian-American former official with the U.S. Department of State, who became the First Lady of Ukraine. They have three children together. A defining event in his life occurred during the 2004 presidential campaign when he suffered a severe disfigurement later confirmed to be the result of dioxin poisoning, an act widely believed to be political assassination attempt.

Legacy

His legacy is inextricably linked to the Orange Revolution, which stands as a landmark event for Civil society and democratic aspirations in the Post-Soviet states. While his presidency is often viewed as a period of unfulfilled potential due to internal political strife, he is credited with firmly establishing Ukraine's strategic course toward the Euro-Atlantic community. His poisoning became a global symbol of political repression. Historians regard his tenure as a critical, albeit turbulent, chapter in Ukraine's ongoing nation-building process and its struggle for sovereignty between Russia and the Western world.

Category:Presidents of Ukraine Category:1954 births Category:Living people