Kateryna Viktorivna Handziuk (; 17 June 1985 – 4 November 2018) was a Ukrainian civil rights and

anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measur ...

activist campaigner and political advisor, who exposed

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

in her hometown of

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

. She was attacked with sulphuric acid on 31 July 2018, and died from her injuries on 4 November 2018.

Education and career

Handziuk was born on 17 June 1985 in

(then a city 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

USSR 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 ...

, now

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 ...

). Handziuk studied at the State University of Kherson between 2002 and 2006. She graduated in 2008 from the

Kyiv National Economic University The Kyiv National Economic University is a self-governing public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university was founded in 1906 as Higher commercial courses. It was ranked #3 by the Ukrainian national ranking of the universities conducted by ...

and 2016 from the National Academy of Public Administration in Kyiv. Handziuk joined the political party "Fatherland" in 2003, and she quickly became the leader of its local youth wing. In 2006, she was elected a deputy of the regional council of the

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...

and the

Kherson City Council Kherson City Council () is the municipal council governing the Ukrainian city of Kherson. History 2020 local elections On October 25, 2020, the 2020 Ukrainian local elections were held in Kherson. The results were as follows: In the electio ...

for the party

Batkivshchyna The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" (), referred to as Batkivshchyna (), is a political party in Ukraine led by People's Deputy of Ukraine, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. As the core party of the former Yulia Tymoshenko B ...

, as well as advisor to the mayor of Kherson. She participated in the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...

. In 2012, she volunteered for the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

. She left the “Fatherland” party in 2015.Assassination attempt against Handziuk: who is suspected and what is known about the crime?
, OPINION UA (17 September 2018) During the Kherson 2015 local elections, Handziuk was an active volunteer who helped the acting mayor of Kherson, Volodymyr Mykolayenko, to win the elections. In November 2016, Handziuk become the acting manager of affairs at

’s executive committee. Handziuk was a critic of the security authorities and especially condemned corruption in the regional department of

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

. She had publicized the involvement of the police in several cases of corruption.

Death

A man threw

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

on her in front of her house on 31 July 2018 and fled. She suffered severe burns on more than 30% of her body. The Ukrainian authorities arrested five suspects. The

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy The Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement is the member of the European Commission in charge of overseeing the Enlargement of the European Union, accession process of prospective new member states and European Neighbourhood Policy, rela ...

Johannes Hahn Johannes Hahn (born 2 December 1957) is an Austrian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Budget and Administration under Ursula von der Leyen since 1 December 2019. He previously served as European Commissioner for Neighbourho ...

wrote on Twitter: "Attacks on civil society activists are unacceptable. Those responsible for this insidious crime must be held accountable." Handziuk first received treatment at a local hospital but was transferred to a special medical institution 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, ...

soon afterward.I am submitting my resignation today — Prosecutor General Lutsenko
,

Interfax-Ukraine Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The company owns a 50-seat press centre. The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022) ...

(6 November 2018) Handziuk died on 4 November 2018. The preliminary cause of death was a

thrombosis Thrombosis () is the formation of a Thrombus, blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thrombocytes) and fib ...

Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

confirmed in the evening of the same day the death of Handziuk in a Kyiv hospital. He called on the police to do everything to clarify the case. After the announcement of her death, there was a spontaneous mourning in the Ukrainian capital, in which hundreds of demonstrators moved to the Ministry of Interior and demanded the complete investigation of the murder. Former

United States Ambassador to Ukraine The ambassador of the United States to Ukraine is the highest-ranking diplomatic position of the United States in Ukraine. The U.S. ambassadors are nominated by the President of the United States, president to serve as the country's diplomat, d ...

Marie Yovanovitch Marie Louise "Masha" Yovanovitch (born November 11, 1958) is a Canadian-American former diplomat and retired senior member of the United States Foreign Service. She served in multiple State Department posts, including Senior Advisor to the Under ...

mentioned in testimony on 15 November 2019 before the

United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Rick Crawford. It is the primary comm ...

impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump The inquiry process which preceded the first impeachment of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States, was initiated by then- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 24, 2019, after a whistleblower alleged that Donald Trump may ...

that she was honoring Kateryna Handziuk on 25 April, when she received a phone call from Washington, DC to leave Ukraine. In June 2023 the former head of the council for Kherson Oblast, Vladyslav Manher, and his assistant, Oleksii Levin, were both found guilty of her murder. They were sentenced to 10 years in prison, and fined ₴15 million ($406,000) as victim compensation to her relatives.

Legacy

In November 2022, as part of a derussification campaign,

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

Street was renamed to .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Handziuk, Kateryna 1985 births 2018 murders in Ukraine 2018 deaths 21st-century Ukrainian women politicians Acid attack victims Batkivshchyna politicians Assassinated civil rights activists Female murder victims Kyiv National Economic University alumni Local politicians in Ukraine National Academy of State Administration alumni Politicians from Kherson People murdered in Ukraine People of the Euromaidan Ukrainian anti-corruption activists Ukrainian human rights activists Women human rights activists Ukrainian murder victims Ukrainian women activists Unsolved murders in Ukraine Kherson State University alumni Violence against women in Ukraine

Education and career

Death

Legacy

See also

References

External links