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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In 2019 year the former Kremlin prisoner returned to Ukraine, and later became a serviceman in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Mykola Karpiuk, co‑founder of UNA‑UNSO and former Kremlin political prisoner, was killed at the front in combat. He was a native of the village of Velykyi Zhytyn in the Rivne region. He was 62 years old. His death on 20 September was reported by politician Artur Palatnyi, public figure Yurii Honcharenko and former deputy head of the SBU Viktor Yahun.
According to Yahun, Karpiuk 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. His fate endured many hardships. What might have broken another did not break him. He remained himself — straightforward, principled, caring,” Yahun wrote.
Honcharenko said that less than a month ago he had spoken with Karpiuk about the history of creating UNSO. According to him, they were planning a joint project in the fall. “A man who dedicated his whole life to Ukraine, who never chased fame, money or positions. A man who endured torture in a Russian prison. Who was kidnapped in 2014, because they understood his importance to Ukraine’s national movement,” Honcharenko wrote.
Palatnyi noted that he knew Karpiuk personally. “Even after 60 years he went to fight, to defend his native land. Because for him love of Ukraine was not words but the work of a lifetime,” he shared.
No other details about the circumstances and location of Karpiuk’s death have been reported.
Mykola Karpiuk was born on 21 May 1964 in Velykyi Zhytyn. After school he worked as a turner at the Rivne plant “Gazotron.” From 1982 to 1984 he served his conscript service. He then returned to Rivne and worked at a flax mill, a tractor parts factory and again at “Gazotron.” He was also a journalist for the newspaper Nasha Sprava.
Karpiuk headed the Rivne chapter 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 party lists.
From 2000 to 2001 he took part in the “Ukraine without Kuchma” campaign, for which he was sentenced to 4,5 years in prison. In 2015 the European Court of Human Rights ordered compensation to Karpiuk in the amount of 3 thousand euros for violations of his rights during the review of the case about the events of 9 March 2001.
In March 2014 Karpiuk was detained at the border with Russia. In 2016 a Russian court sentenced him to 22,5 years in prison on charges related to the First Chechen War. Karpiuk denied participating in combat operations in Chechnya. The Russian human rights organization Memorial recognized him and Stanislav Klykh as political prisoners.
Karpiuk spent five years in a Russian prison. In September 2019 he returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner release. After that he continued public activity, and later joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Photo: Suspilne
“Argument”
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Why nationalist Karpiuk is in a Russian prison, while Yarosh took over UNA‑UNSO
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