Boris Borisovich Kozhin or Borys Borysovych Kozhyn (; born 25 October 1944, Pskov, Russia) is a Ukrainian retired vice admiral and politician who served as the first commander of the
Ukrainian Navy
The Ukrainian Navy (), is the Navy, maritime force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, service branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The naval forces consist of five components: surface forces, submarine forces, Ukrainian Naval ...
from April 1992 to October 1993. He later served as a
People's Deputy of Ukraine
A people's deputy of Ukraine (, ) is a member of parliament and legislator elected by Direct election, popular vote to the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine. They are often referred to simply as "deputies". Prior to 1991, the Verkhovna R ...
on the party list of the
People's Movement of Ukraine
The People's Movement of Ukraine () is a Ukraine, Ukrainian political party and one of the first Opposition (politics), opposition parties in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine.The first officially registered opposition politica ...
from 1998 to 2002.
Borys Kozhyn was born in
Pskov
Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...
in 1944 in a family of the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
veteran who was repressed in 1947 and convicted for 25 years, but in 1956 rehabilitated. In 1959 Kozhyn family moved to
Lutsk
Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...
where the relatives of Borys Kozhyn's mother lived. Borys' mother herself is from a small of
Pidhaitsi
Pidhaitsi (, ; ; ) is a small city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located approximately south of Berezhany, from Ternopil, and south-east of Lviv. In 1939, Pidhaitsi obtained the formal status of a city.Galicia).
Upon finishing school in 1961 Kozhyn worked as a mechanic at the Lutsk vehicle maintenance factory. In 1963, he became a champion of Volyn, a vice-champion of Ukraine in cycling and won a bronze medal of the
Spartakiad of Peoples of the USSR
The Spartakiad of Peoples of the USSR (, Spartakiada narodov SSSR; ; ) were mass multi-event competitions in the Soviet Union in 1956–1991, descendants of the 1928 All-Union Spartakiad that took place in Moscow. The competitions were designed t ...
in
road bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The ...
, competition for which in the framework of the spartakiad was taking place in
Ternopil
Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...
.
In 1968 Kozhyn graduated the
Frunze Higher Naval School
The Peter the Great Naval Corps - Saint Petersburg Naval Institute (), formerly known as the M. V. Frunze Higher Naval School (named after Mikhail Frunze, in ), is the oldest of the Russian Navy's naval officer commissioning schools. It is locate ...
in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
with specialty "Antisubmarine armament" as an electrical engineer. Upon graduation (August 1968 - November 1971) he was placed as a commander assistant and commander of an anti-submarine boat PR-201 (predecessor of Poti-class corvette)MPK project 201 (МПК проекта 201) russ-flot. (military unit 99724) that was part of the Black Sea Fleet division of ships carrying out security of water district (, divizia korablei OVR) in
Sevastopol
Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...
. During that period he also served as a commander assistant of a patrol ship () PR-159 (
Petya-class frigate
The Petya class was the NATO reporting name for a class of light frigates designed in the 1950s and built for the Soviet Navy in the 1960s. The Soviet designation was "Storozhevoi Korabl`" (Сторожевой Корабль - Sentry Ship) ''Pr ...
) (military unit 20935) in
Donuzlav
Lake Donuzlav (Russian and Ukrainian: Донузлав, ), also referred to as Donuzlav Bay, is the deepest lakeOliferov, A.M. Donuzlav (ДОНУЗЛА́В)'. Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine. of Crimea () and biggest in Chornomorske Raion (). It ...
.
In 1971-72 Kozhyn completed the
Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy
The Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy, formally the Higher Special Officer Order of Lenin Classes of the Navy (), and known by its abbreviation VSOK VMF () is a higher naval education institution in Saint Petersburg which educates serving ...
in Leningrad. In 1972-75 he was a commander of a patrol ship PR-159 in
Donuzlav
Lake Donuzlav (Russian and Ukrainian: Донузлав, ), also referred to as Donuzlav Bay, is the deepest lakeOliferov, A.M. Donuzlav (ДОНУЗЛА́В)'. Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine. of Crimea () and biggest in Chornomorske Raion (). It ...
and after that was chief of staff for a brigade of minesweepers (military unit 34234), Black Sea Fleet Naval base in Donuzlav.
In 1978-80 Kozhyn attended and completed the Grechko Naval Academy in Leningrad. After that he was a commander of security brigade of water district (military unit 26977), Black Sea Fleet Naval base in Sevastopol. In 1986-92 he served as a chief of staff – deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet Naval base (military unit 99324) in Donuzlav. During that period in 1987-88 Kozhyn was a member of the Crimean regional council.
In February – April 1992 Kozhyn was commander of the Black Sea Fleet Crimean Naval base (today Southern Naval base) in Donuzlav. On 1 December 1991, the Crimean Naval Base voted for the
Ukrainian independence referendum
A referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence was held in Ukraine on 1 December 1991.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', page 1976 An overwhelming majority of 92% of voters approved the declar ...