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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In 2019 year, a former prisoner of the Kremlin returned to Ukraine, and later became a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Mykola Karpyuk, cofounder of UNA-UNSO and a former political prisoner of the Kremlin, was killed at the front in battle. He was born in the village of Velykyi Zhytyn in Rivne region. He was 62 years old. About his death 20 September were reported by politician Artur Palatny, public figure Yurii Honcharenko, and former deputy head of the SBU Viktor Yahun, reports "Suspline".
According to Yahun, Karpyuk died on 19 September. “Mykola was one of those people for whom Ukraine was not words but a part of life itself. He made his choice long ago and remained faithful to it under any circumstances. He faced many hardships. What could break others did not break him. He remained himself — straightforward, principled, unyielding,” wrote Yahun.
Honcharenko said that less than a month ago he spoke with Karpyuk about the history of UNA-UNSO’s creation. According to him, in the autumn they planned a joint project. “A person who devoted his whole life to Ukraine, who never chased fame, money or positions. A person who endured torture in a Russian prison. They abducted him in 2014, because they understood his weight for the national movement of Ukraine,” wrote Honcharenko.
Palatny noted that he knew Karpyuk personally. “Even after 60 years, he went to fight, to defend his native land. Because for him love for Ukraine was not words but a life’s work,” he shared.
Other details about the circumstances and place of Karpyuk’s death have not been reported.
Mykola Karpyuk was born 21 May 1964 year in Velykyi Zhytyn. After school he worked as a turner at Rivne plant “Hazotron.” From 1982 to 1984 he served his conscription. Then he returned to Rivne and worked at the flax mill, at a tractor parts plant, and again at “Hazotron.” He was also a journalist for the newspaper “Nasha sprava.”
Karpyuk headed Rivne regional branch of the Ukrainian National Assembly and was one of the leaders of UNA-UNSO. In 1998 and 2002 he ran for the Verkhovna Rada on UNA-UNSO lists.
From 2000 to 2001 he participated in the action “Ukraine without Kuchma,” for which he was convicted to 4,5 years of imprisonment. In 2015 the European Court of Human Rights ordered compensation to Karpyuk in 3 thousand euros for violations of his rights during the consideration of the case about events of 9 March 2001 year.
In March 2014 year Karpyuk was detained at the border with Russia. In 2016 year a Russian court sentenced him to 22,5 years in prison on charges related to the first Chechen war. Karpyuk contested involvement in fighting in Chechnya. The Russian human rights organization Memorial recognized him and Stanislav Klikh as political prisoners.
In a Russian prison Karpyuk spent five years. In September 2019 year he returned to Ukraine during a release of prisoners held by captors. After that he continued public activity, and later joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
More details about the “Chechen” case and the charges against Karpyuk and Klikh are in the ZN.UA article “The first hostages of the hybrid war” by journalist Anastasia Stanko.
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