Halyna Kolotnytska (, ''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Galyna Koschiy, also spelled Galina Kolotnitskaya after the Russian form of her name (); b.2 January 1976) is a Libyan-Ukrainian

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

and a former member of her country's Antarctic research mission. She is mostly known for her close association with former Libyan leader

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

Early life

Kolotnytska was born on 2 January 1976 in

Brovary Brovary (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kyiv Oblast, northern Ukraine, situated to the east of the capital Kyiv and part of the Kyiv metropolitan area. It serves as the administrative centre of Brovary Raion. Brovary hosts t ...

,Донька української медсестри Каддафі розповіла про стосунки між ними (ФОТО)

Gazeta.ua ''Gazeta.ua'' ( 'Newspaper in Ukrainian') is an illustrated newspaper based in Kyiv covering politics, economics, culture, sports, arts, and other different topics aimed at Ukrainian-language readers. It is chiefly published in Ukrainian, but ...

(November 30, 2010) in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(in present-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). She graduated from an unspecified nursing college in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. Kolotnytska's husband, an electrician at a local factory, died in 1992, after which Kolotnytska moved from her local nursing job to work as a

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

at Ukraine's Antarctic research station. There she was described as "harshly enforcing hygiene rules".”Піднімала з-за столу за комір, якщо не помили руки”

(December 10, 2010)

Career

Kolotnytska moved to Libya in 2001, with the help of a medical agency acquired abroad, where she first worked at a hospital and then went on to serve Gaddafi. At the time, Libya was a popular destination for Ukrainian doctors because the pay was higher than in Ukraine. According to various estimates, there were about 500 Ukrainian doctors and nurses in Libya in early 2011.В Украину вернулась личная медсестра Каддафи
,

DELO ''Delo'' () is a business oriented online media in Ukraine, belonging to ekonomika+ media holding. ''Delo'' was the first daily in Ukraine, publishing its real print circulation (13.000 - 15.000) and trying to introduce Western editorial and b ...

(27 February 2011) It is reported that Gaddafi employed four nurses from Ukraine. Kolotnytska left Libya in the midst of the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbooks ...

; evacuated by the

Ukrainian ministry of defence The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine () is the ministry of the Ukrainian government that oversees national defence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is the Minister of Defence. The President of Ukraine is the Supreme Co ...

she arrived in

(the capital of Ukraine) on 27 February 2011. Kolotnytska applied for

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

early May 2011. Norwegian authorities swiftly refused to grant asylum to her.

United States diplomatic cables leak

Kolotnytska was described by

Gene Cretz Gene Allan Cretz (born April 20, 1950) is a career diplomat who retired from the Senior Foreign Service in 2015. Before retiring, he was the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana. Early life Cretz was born in Albany, New York, and attended Albany High Schoo ...

, the U.S. ambassador to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, as the "voluptuous blonde" without whom

, leader of Libya, never traveled. The characterization surfaced after the secret diplomatic cable sent by Cretz was published as a part of the

United States diplomatic cables leak An incident, commonly referred to as Cablegate, began on 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around ...

. The cable was sent from the United States embassy in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

on 29 September 2009. It was also revealed that the Libyan government sent a private jet to ferry her from Libya to Portugal, to meet Gaddafi during his rest-stop. Kolotnytska alone is said to have "known Gaddafi's routine". Kolotnytska's daughter Tatyana and her mother Iryna have denied that Kolotnytska was Gaddafi's mistress.Gathafi's 'voluptuous' Ukrainian nurse keeps mum

Middle East Online Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek (d ...

(28 February 2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolotnytska, Halyna Muammar Gaddafi Living people Ukrainian nurses People from Brovary 1972 births