Andriy Parubiy | |
|---|---|
Андрій Парубій | |
 Parubiy in 2016 | |
| Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada | |
| In office 14 April 2016[1] – 28 August 2019[2] | |
| Deputy | Iryna Herashchenko |
| Preceded by | Volodymyr Groysman |
| Succeeded by | Dmytro Razumkov |
| First DeputyChairman of the Verkhovna Rada | |
| In office 4 December 2014 – 14 April 2016 | |
| President | Petro Poroshenko |
| Preceded by | Ihor Kalietnik |
| Succeeded by | Iryna Herashchenko |
| Secretary of theNational Security and Defense Council of Ukraine | |
| In office 27 February 2014 – 7 August 2014 | |
| President | Oleksandr Turchynov (acting) Petro Poroshenko |
| Preceded by | Andriy Klyuyev |
| Succeeded by | Oleksandr Turchynov[3] |
| People's Deputy of Ukraine | |
| 6th convocation | |
| In office 23 November 2007 – 12 December 2012 | |
| Constituency | Our Ukraine, No.80[4] |
| 7th convocation | |
| In office 12 December 2012 – 17 March 2014 | |
| Constituency | Independent, No.21[5] |
| 8th convocation | |
| In office 27 November 2014 – 29 August 2019 | |
| Constituency | People's Front, No.4[6] |
| 9th convocation | |
| In office 29 August 2019 – 30 August 2025 | |
| Constituency | European Solidarity, No.2 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1971-01-31)31 January 1971 Chervonohrad, Ukrainian SSR,Soviet Union |
| Died | 30 August 2025(2025-08-30) (aged 54) |
| Manner of death | Assassination |
| Political party | European Solidarity (2019–2025) |
| Other political affiliations | Self-Defence of Maidan group [uk] (2013–2014)[7] Fatherland (2012–2014) Front for Change (2012) Our Ukraine (2005–2012) Social-National Party of Ukraine (1994–2004) |
| Alma mater | |
| Website | www.parubiy.org |
Andriy Volodymyrovych Parubiy (Ukrainian:Андрій Володимирович Парубій; 31 January 1971 – 30 August 2025) was a Ukrainian politician and a member of theUkrainian Parliament from 2007 untilhis assassination in 2025,[a] and served as itschairman from 2016 to 2019.[8]
Parubiy was born in the Lviv region to a family with long traditions ofUkrainian nationalism. In the late 1980s, he engaged in pro-Ukrainian political activism and was elected to theLviv regional council in 1990. He co-founded theSocial-National Party of Ukraine the following year.
Being a regional politician during the 1990s, Parubiy distanced himself from far-right political organizations in 2004 and actively participated in theOrange Revolution. In 2007, he was elected to the Ukrainian Parliament on theOur Ukraine political ticket. DuringEuromaidan, he was in charge of the Maidan self-defense, commanding more than ten thousand people by February 2014.
After the victory of the revolution, he was appointed Secretary of theNational Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, a position from which he oversaw the initial stages of theRusso-Ukrainian War. In August 2014, Parubiy stepped down from the position[9] and later he was voted into the Parliament on the ticket of thePeople's Front. He was elected first as deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and later, in 2016, as its chairman. During his tenure, he supported Ukrainian integration into theNATO and theEU. Parubiy was described by theBBC as a politician of the national-democratic camp.[10]
He was assassinated inLviv on 30 August 2025 by a gunman who fled on anelectric bike.[8]
Andriy Parubiy was born inChervonohrad, Lviv region, on 31 January 1971. His ancestors served in theAustro-Hungarian military and, after its collapse, in theUkrainian Galician Army that fought in thePolish-Ukrainian War from 1918 to 1919. His uncles fought for theUkrainian Insurgent Army, and afterWorld War II, the whole family was sent to Siberia for ten years. His father was active in the Ukrainian independence movement and made a political career after 1991, reaching the position of deputy mayor of Lviv. On his mother's side, his family is from theKharkiv region.[11]
In 1994, Parubiy graduated from the history department ofUniversity of Lviv and received a diploma with the specialization as historian.[11] In 2001, he completed a program in political science and sociology at the graduate school of the State UniversityLviv Polytechnic.[12]
Andriy Parubiy started his career in 1987 as laboratory technician in the archaeological expedition of theInstitute of Social Sciences [uk][13] In 1988, he co-founded the organization "Heritage", which looked after the graves of Ukrainian Insurgent Army soldiers and defended anti-Soviet protesters.[10] Parubiy was arrested by the authorities of theUkrainian SSR for organizing an unsanctionedrally in 1989.[14] In 1990, he participated in an election for the local council. The day before the vote, he was arrested and learned of his successful election to theLviv regional council while under arrest.[10]
In 1991, he founded theSocial-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU) together withOleh Tyahnybok.[15][14] The party combinedradical nationalism withneo-Nazi features and symbols, including its name and theWolfsangel-like sign.[16][15][17] According toThe Jewish Chronicle, the party restricted membership toethnic Ukrainians, and was based on thefascist ideology ofHitler.[18] The party considered "the Russian state to be the cause of all troubles in Ukraine".[10] From 1998 to 2004, Parubiy led the paramilitary organization of SNPU, thePatriot of Ukraine which aimed to assist the Ukrainian army and fleet.[10][17] Parubiy left these organizations in 2004.[16] From 1994 to 1998, he was a representative in theLviv city council and in 2002 was again elected in Lviv regional council[13][19] where he rose to the position of its secretary.[20]
Parubiy participated in theOrange Revolution in 2004.[14][21] After its victory, he joined the newly createdOur Ukraine party from which he was elected into the Lviv regional council in 2006 and to theVerkhovna Rada during the2007 parliamentary elections.[11] He then became a member of the deputy group that would later becomeFor Ukraine!.[14] Parubiy stayed with Our Ukraine and became a member of its political council.[22]In early February 2012, Parubiy left Our Ukraine because their "views diverged".[23] Later, he briefly joined the political partyFront for Change[24] and in2012, he was re-elected into parliament on the party list ofBatkivshchyna.[25] In 2011, he participated in theBolotnaya protests in Moscow.[26][27]
From December 2013 to February 2014, Parubiy was acommandant ofEuromaidan.[28] He coordinated thevolunteer security corps for the mainstream protesters.[29] In December, these self-defense groups consisted of 5,000 people,[30] rising to 12,000 in February.[10] During the protests, Andriy Parubiy was injured twice, in early December[31] and in late January.[32] On 18 February, he called on protesters to block the parliament building.[33] He was then appointed Secretary of theNational Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.[34] This appointment was approved by then-new Ukrainian presidentPetro Poroshenko on 16 June 2014.[35]
As Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Parubiy supported the operation againstpro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.[36] In May 2014, at aUkraine–NATO working group inBrussels, Parubiy requested thatNATO experts should come to Ukraine to help plan the reform of Ukraine's security and defence sector.[37] He supported the integration of theMaidan fighters into areformed National Guard.[10]
Parubiy resigned as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council on 7 August 2014. He declined to say why, stating "I believe it is unacceptable to comment on my resignation in a time of war", and he would "continue to assist the front, primarily volunteer battalions".[9] President Poroshenko signed a decree confirming Parubiy's dismissal the same day.[38] Later, Parubiy acknowledged that the dismissal happened due to different views over the resolution of thewar in Donbas; Parubiy opposed the negotiation of theMinsk Protocol and believed the conflict should be resolved by force.[10]
In September 2014, Parubiy became a founding member of his new partyPeople's Front.[39] At theUkrainian elections of October 2014 he was re-elected as People's Deputy on the People's Front party list. On 4 December, he was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.[40] After this, he left the party's faction in the parliament.[41] In the same month, he was a target of an assassination attempt; a grenade was thrown at him near the hotel "Kyiv".[10]
After the resignation ofVolodymyr Groysman, on 14 April 2016, he was elected asChairman of the Verkhovna Rada.[1] On 15 February 2019, Parubiy signed a decree on the establishment of the parliamentary reform Office. The VR Chairman noted that it is planned to involve 15 employees in the work in the Office in accordance with the directions of parliamentary work.[42]
After Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected President of Ukraine, he called for early parliamentary elections. Andriy Parubiy called such an action unconstitutional[43] and later accused Zelenskyy of a lack of knowledge of Ukrainian legislation.[44] In the July2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Parubiy was placed second on the party list ofEuropean Solidarity.[45] The party won 23 seats (on the nationwide party list and 2 constituency seats) and thus Parubiy was re-elected to parliament.[46] After Russia invaded Ukraine, he joined theterritorial defense forces, and a few months later left to concentrate on his work in the Parliament.[27]
Parubiy's funeral was held on 2 September 2025 atSaint George's Cathedral in Lviv. He was then buried at theLychakiv Cemetery.[51]
On 3 October 2025, theSecurity Service of Ukraine said it had enough evidence to prove that Russian intelligence agencies had ordered Parubiy's assassination.[52]
Andriy Parubiy brought asmoke bomb into Parliament to protest the signing of theKharkiv Accords, which continued the lease of bases for the RussianBlack Sea Fleet in Crimea from 2017 to 2042.[10] He subsequently introduced a bill to denounce the accords.[53]
After meeting withNATO representatives inTbilisi, Parubiy introduced an amendment to legislation setting Ukraine's foreign policy goal as NATO membership, not just the achievement of the criteria for it.[54] He said that the law on national security of Ukraine took into account the position of NATO experts.[55] Later, he supported PresidentPetro Poroshenko's proposition to introduce the aim of joining NATO into theConstitution.[56]
Parubiy was against holding direct talks with representatives of the self-proclaimedDonetsk People's Republic andLuhansk People's Republic separatists, calling them terrorists.[57] He said that he had not supported theMinsk agreements from the start, claiming thatPutin could be stopped only by military force and sanctions.[58] Later, he supported a bill on the reintegration of theDonbas, which was criticized bythe EU andthe UN for a lack of attention to the human rights of people from the occupied territories and by Russia for a lack of mention of the Minsk agreements in the text.[59] Before theNormandy summit, he participated in protests that urged Zelensky not to compromise on Ukraine being a unitary state, its EU and NATO membership, and holding elections in the Donbas before Ukraine had full control of the border.[60] In 2022, after the full-scaleRussian invasion of Ukraine, he advocated against negotiation on Russian terms, asserting that this was an opportunity for Ukraine to destroy that "empire".[10]
Parubiy expressed support for the reform ofUkrainian prosecutors by former Georgian politicianDavid Sakvarelidze.[61] He called it "shameful" when the parliament did not absolve political activists from the requirement to declare their assets.[62] He supported the introduction of theUkrainian Anti-Corruption Court, saying that it was Ukraine's obligation to theIMF.[63] In 2019, Parubiy defended the medical reform byUlana Suprun.[64]
Parubiy supported a law to allow Ukrainian law enforcement to block websites without a court decision for 48 hours.[65] After the pro-Russian Ukrainian channelNewsOne planned to conduct a teleconference with a Russian TV channel, Parubiy urged the introduction of a law to make this impossible in the future.[66]
Contrary to the advice of theVenice Commission, Parubiy said that there would be no amendments to the language norms of thelaw on education.[67] He supported thelaw on the protection of Ukrainian as a state language.[68][69] Later, he called attempts to overturn the law via court a "Russian revanche".[70]
Parubiy expressed support for theautocephaly of theOrthodox Church of Ukraine on national security grounds and subsequently visitedIstanbul as part of a Ukrainian delegation to obtain atomos on autocephaly for the church.[71][72]
Parubiy asked theEuropean Parliament to reconsider its negative reaction to formerUkrainian presidentViktor Yushchenko's decision to awardStepan Bandera, the leader of theOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the title ofHero of Ukraine.[73] He said that decommunization was as important as judicial reform or national security issues.[74] After a Ukrainian court overturned the renaming of the two avenues in Kyiv, Parubiy stated that "In Kyiv, there shall be a Bandera Avenue and aShukhevych Avenue, as stipulated by the law on de-communization".[75]
Andriy Parubiy stated that both protesters and law enforcement during theRevolution of Dignity were shot by Russian snipers.[76] Commenting on theattack in Kerch, he said that children died because of the "madness" of the "Russian world".[77]
Andriy Parubiy wasGreek Catholic.[78] He was married and had one daughter.[79]
It is noteworthy that of these various Ukrainian nationalist parties the SNPU was the least inclined to conceal its neofascist affiliations. Its official symbol was the somewhat modified Wolf's Hook (wolfsangel), used as a symbol by the GermanSS divisionDas Reich and theDutch SS divisionLandstorm Nederland during World War II and by a number of European neofascist organizations after 1945. As seen by the SNPU leadership, the Wolf's Hook became the "idea of the nation." Moreover, the official name of the party's ideology, "social nationalism," clearly referred back to "national socialism" – the official name of the ideology of theNational-Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) and of theHitlerite regime. The SNPU's political platform distinguished itself by its openly revolutionary ultranationalism, its demands for the violent takeover of power in the country, and its willingness to blame Russia for all of Ukraine's ills. Moreover, the SNPU was the first relatively large party to recruitNazi skinheads and football hooligans. But in the political arena, its support in the 1990s remained insignificant.
| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Secretary of National Security and Defense Council 2014 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada 2014–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada 2016–2019 | Succeeded by |
Euromaidan and theRevolution of Dignity | |||||
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