Yuriy Vitalievich Lutsenko – Prosecutor General of Ukraine (2016 – 2019), People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the IV, VI, VII, VIII convocations, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (2005 – 2006, 2007 – 2010).
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on December 14, 1964 in Rivne.
In 1989, he completed his studies at the Lviv Polytechnic Institute with a degree in electronic engineering.
From 1984 to 1986 he served in the army, after which he continued his education.
Career
In the period from 1989 to 1996, he worked as a process engineer, site foreman and head of the technical bureau of the workshop at the plant named after the 60th anniversary of October.
Later, he held the position of chief designer of the Gazotron plant in Rivne, after which he moved to work in the Rivne Regional Council. There he served as deputy chairman, and also headed the Committee on Economics of the Rivne Regional State Administration.
In 1997 – 1998, he was Deputy Head of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
From September 1998 to April 1999, he worked as an assistant to the then Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko.
After that, for three years he was an assistant-consultant to the people’s deputy, leader of the “Socialist Party of Ukraine” (“SPU”) Oleksandr Moroz in the secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada (Verkhovna Rada).
In the period from 1996 to 1998, he was the secretary of the political council of the “SPU”. Later he became a people’s deputy of Ukraine of the IV convocation from the party.
In 2001, he was one of the organizers of the protest action “Ukraine without Kuchma”.
On February 4, 2005, he took the post of head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), but was dismissed on December 1, 2006. After that, he announced the founding of the opposition movement “People’s Self-Defense”. He was joined by former representatives of “Our Ukraine” Mykola Katerynchuk and David Zhvania, as well as presidential adviser Taras Stetskiv. Shortly thereafter, the Prosecutor General’s Office searched Lutsenko’s apartment and took a recognizance not to leave him, suspecting him of illegal and unreasonable issuance of award pistols.
In particular, Lutsenko stated the need to hold early parliamentary elections. When it became clear that early elections would take place, the Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense (NUNS) bloc was formed.
On December 18, 2007, after the formation of a coalition between the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the NUNS, Lutsenkowas appointed head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the second government of Tymoshenko.
Political persecution
On January 28, 2010, on the eve of the second round of presidential elections, the Rada, at the suggestion of the Party of Regions faction, dismissed Lutsenko from his post. In response, Tymoshenko convened an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, where the politician was appointed First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs with the duties of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but later the District Administrative Court of Kyiv stopped this decision.
On February 27, 2012, Lutsenko was sentenced to four years in prison with confiscation of property and a ban on holding positions related to organizational and administrative or administrative functions for up to three years. He was also stripped of the 1st rank of civil servant. The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv found him guilty of abuse of power, misuse of budget funds, allocation of an apartment to a driver and crediting him with civilian experience as a police officer.
On July 3, the European Court of Human Rights recognized Lutsenko’s arrest as illegal and politically motivated.
On April 7, 2013, he was released from further serving his sentence by presidential decree.
On March 20, 2014, the Pechersk Court of Kyiv overturned all decisions in Lutsenko’s cases and recognized him as a political prisoner.
On June 17, by presidential decree, he was appointed a freelance adviser to the then leader of the country, Petro Poroshenko.
On August 27, at the congress of the Solidarity party, Lutsenko was elected head of the political force. On the same day, the delegates supported the new name of the party – “Petro Poroshenko Bloc” (BPP).
At the early parliamentary elections in the fall, Lutsenko entered the Verkhovna Rada at No. 2 on the list of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and headed the faction.
Attorney General
On May 12, 2016, the Verkhovna Rada approved the president’s submission on the appointment of Lutsenko to the post of Prosecutor General, after which Poroshenko immediately signed the corresponding decree in the session hall.
On August 29, 2019, he submitted his resignation from the post of Prosecutor General. On the same day, the Rada supported the president’s motion to dismiss him.
In 2022, after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Lutsenko was drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). With the rank of captain, he was appointed commander of a platoon of attack UAVs.
In early July 2023, Lutsenko announced that he had been dismissed from service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The reason was the decision of the Military Medical Commission (MMC) on the impossibility of further service for health reasons, which led to the establishment of disability.
Marital Status
He met his future wife – Iryna – while studying at the Lviv Polytechnic Institute.
The couple has two sons: Oleksandr, born in 1989, and Vitaliy, born in 1999.
