Yuriy Lutsenko
Yuriy Vitaliyovych Lutsenko (Ukrainian: Юрій Віталійович Луценко; born 14 December 1964) is a Ukrainian politician (whose most recent post was Prosecutor General of Ukraine from 12 May 2016 until 29 August 2019), Ukrainian Interior Minister and member in the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yuriy Lutsenko | |
|---|---|
Юрій Луценко | |
Lutsenko in 2018 | |
| 14th Prosecutor General of Ukraine | |
| In office 12 May 2016 – 29 August 2019 | |
| President | Petro Poroshenko Volodymyr Zelenskyy |
| Prime Minister | Volodymyr Groysman |
| Preceded by | Viktor Shokin |
| Succeeded by | Ruslan Riaboshapka |
| Minister of Internal Affairs | |
| In office 19 December 2008 – 11 March 2010 | |
| President | Viktor Yushchenko |
| Prime Minister | Yulia Tymoshenko Oleksandr Turchynov (Acting) |
| Preceded by | Vasyl Tsushko |
| Succeeded by | Anatolii Mohyliov |
| In office 4 February 2005 – 1 December 2006 | |
| President | Viktor Yushchenko |
| Prime Minister | Yulia Tymoshenko Yuriy Yekhanurov Viktor Yanukovych |
| Preceded by | Mykola Bilokon |
| Succeeded by | Vasyl Tsushko |
| People's Deputy of Ukraine | |
| In office 14 May 2002 – 3 March 2005 | |
| Constituency | Socialist Party, No. 3 |
| In office 23 November 2007 – 19 December 2007 | |
| Constituency | Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc, No. 1 |
| In office 27 November 2014 – 12 May 2016 | |
| Constituency | Petro Poroshenko Bloc, No. 2 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 December 1964 Rivne, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) |
| Political party | Socialist Party (1991–2006) People's Self-Defense (2006–2013) European Solidarity (2014–present) |
| Spouse | Iryna Lutsenko (since 1988) |
| Children | Oleksandr Vitaliy |
| Alma mater | Lviv Polytechnic National University |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise Fifth Class |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Ukraine |
| Branch/service | Territorial Defense Forces |
| Years of service | 2022–present |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | |
Lutsenko has been a long serving people's deputy in the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament); first elected in 2002 and reelected in 2007 and 2014.
Lutsenko was Minister of Internal Affairs in the two cabinets of Yulia Tymoshenko and in the cabinets of Yuriy Yekhanurov and Viktor Yanukovych. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is the Ukrainian police authority, and Lutsenko became the first civilian minister in February 2005. Lutsenko is also a former leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, and a former leader of its faction in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament).
In 2010, Lutsenko was charged with abuse of office and forgery by Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka, in what was widely viewed as political retaliation for having investigated one of Yanukovych's cabinet members four years earlier. In 2012, he was sentenced to four years in prison, but was pardoned by Yanukovych in 2013. In 2016, he became Ukraine's chief prosecutor under President Petro Poroshenko, during which time he was criticized for undermining Ukraine's newly established National Anti-Corruption Bureau. While in office, Lutsenko became a central figure in the Trump–Ukraine scandal, in which he worked with U.S. President Donald Trump to try to find incriminating information on Trump's then-presumed opponent in the 2020 United States presidential election, Joe Biden. He was dismissed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2019; Trump later tried unsuccessfully to pressure Zelenskyy to reinstate him.
Following the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Lutsenko joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and has taken part in several battles since. On 5 July 2023 Lutsenko announced that he would no longer serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces due to an established disability. According to him, he would "work towards victory as a volunteer".