Yevhen Marchuk, a former prime minister of Ukraine, died on Aug. 5, his wife Larysa Ivshyna announced.
Marchuk held a number of top governmental posts. He was the first head of the Security Service of Ukraine, the successor agency to the Soviet KGB, in 1991-1994. He headed the government as prime minister under President Leonid Kuchma in 1995-1996. And he was defense minister in 2003-2004, a time when the nation’s armed forces continued to decline in strength. He also made an unsuccessful run for president in 1999, when Kuchma was re-elected.
Marchuk was 80. According to a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) statement, COVID-19 exacerbated ailments that Marchuk was already suffering from, leading to heart failure. The SBU staff expressed deep condolences to the family and friends of Marchuk, saying that his role in Ukraine’s state-building process is hard to overestimate. “This is a great loss for Ukraine,” the SBU’s statement reads.
See also from Sept. 2, 1999: Despite pact, Marchuk still campaigns alone
After his career was over, Marchuk participated in the peacemaking process to end Russia’s war against Ukraine in the eastern Donbas. In 2018-2019, Marchuk was one of Ukraine’s representatives in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine seeking a peace settlement during talks in Minsk, Belarus.
President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter that thanks partly to Marchuk’s effort, Ukraine managed to reach a cease-fire agreement on July 27, 2020, that is still in force, though is constantly violated by Russian-backed militants. “He devoted his entire life to protecting the national interests of Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote. “Sincere condolences to the family and relatives.”
Marchuk was also linked to Day newspaper.
