Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second

president of Ukraine 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. ...

, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by

democratic backsliding Democratic backsliding or autocratization is a process of regime change toward autocracy in which the exercise of political power becomes more arbitrary and repressive. The process typically restricts the space for public contest and politi ...

and the growth of the Ukrainian oligarchs, as well as several scandals and improvement of Russia–Ukraine relations. After a successful career in the machine-building industry 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 ...

, Kuchma began his political career in 1990, when he was elected to the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(the Ukrainian parliament); he was re-elected in 1994. He served as

Prime Minister of Ukraine The prime minister of Ukraine (, , ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the government of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the government of Ukrain ...

between October 1992 and September 1993. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent President

Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (, ; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine, serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed the Lisbon Protocol, undertaking to give up Ukrai ...

. Kuchma won re-election for an additional five-year term in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. Corruption accelerated after Kuchma's election in 1994, but in 2000–2001, his power began to weaken in the face of exposures in the media. Kuchma's administration began a campaign of

media censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

in 1999, leading to arrests of journalists, the death of Georgiy Gongadze, and the subsequent

Cassette Scandal The Cassette Scandal ( ; ), also known as Tapegate or Kuchmagate, was a Ukrainian political scandal in November 2000 in which Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma was caught on tape ordering the months-earlier kidnapping of journalist Georgiy Gong ...

and mass protests. The Ukrainian economy continued to decline until 1999, whereas growth was recorded since 2000, bringing relative prosperity to some segments of urban residents. During his presidency, Ukrainian-Russian ties began to improve. Kuchma declined to seek a third term in office, instead supporting

Party of Regions A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

candidate

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

for the 2004 election. Following public protests over the alleged electoral fraud which escalated into 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 ...

, Kuchma took a neutral stance and was a mediator between

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

and Viktor Yanukovych. Between 2014 and 2020, Kuchma was a special presidential representative of Ukraine at the quasi peace talks regarding the ongoing

War in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

. Kuchma's legacy has proven controversial, and he has been described as

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

by various sources. Widespread corruption and media censorship under Kuchma's administration continue to have an impact on Ukraine today, and he has been accused of promoting oligarchism.

Early life

Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was born in the village of Chaikyne in rural

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast (), also referred to as Chernihivshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northern Ukraine. The capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv. There are 1,511 sett ...

on 9 August 1938. His father, Danylo Prokopovych Kuchma (1901–1942) was wounded in

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 ...

and eventually died of his wounds in the field hospital #756 (near the village of Novoselytsia) when Leonid was four. His mother Paraska Trokhymivna Kuchma worked on a

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz. These were the two components of the socialized farm sector that began to eme ...

. Kuchma attended the Kostobobriv general education school in the neighboring Semenivka Raion. Later he enrolled in Dnipropetrovsk National University as a candidate of technical sciences and he graduated in 1960 with a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

(majoring in

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

). In 1960 joined the Communist Party of Soviet Union.

Career

After graduation, Kuchma worked in the field of

for the

Yuzhnoye Design Bureau The ''Pivdenne'' Design Office (), located in Dnipro, Ukraine, is a designer of satellites and rockets, and formerly of Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), established by Mikhail Yangel. During the Soviet era, the bureau's OKB de ...

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

. At 28 he became a testing director for the Bureau deployed at the

Baikonur cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

. Some political observers suggested that Kuchma's early career was significantly boosted by his marriage to Lyudmyla Talalayeva, an adopted daughter of Gennadiy Tumanov, the

Yuzhmash The State Enterprise "Production Amalgamation 'Southern Machine-Building Plant named after O.M. Makarov'", officially abbreviated as Pivdenmash () and previously as Yuzhmash (), is a Ukrainian state-owned aerospace and defence manufacturer. ...

chief engineering officer and later the Soviet Minister of Medium Machine Building. At 38 Kuchma became the Communist party chief at Yuzhny Machine-building Plant and a member of the Central Committee of the

Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU or KPU) is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 and claimed to be the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine, which had been banned in 1991. In 2002 it held a "unifi ...

. He was a delegate of the 27th and 28th Congresses of the Communist Party of Soviet Union. By the end of the 1980s, Kuchma openly criticized the Communist Party. In 1982 Kuchma was appointed the first deputy of general

design engineer A design engineer is an engineer focused on the engineering design process in any of the various engineering disciplines (including civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, textiles, aerospace, nuclear, manufacturing, systems, and struct ...

at Yuzhmash, and from 1986 to 1992, he held the position of the company's general director. From 1990 to 1992, Kuchma was a member of the

(Ukraine's parliament). In 1992 he was appointed as

. He resigned a year later, complaining of "slow pace of reform". He was re-elected into parliament in 1994.

President (1994–2005)

Kuchma resigned from the position of

in September 1993 to run for the presidency in 1994 on a platform to boost the economy by restoring economic relations with Russia and faster pro-market reforms. Kuchma won a clear victory against the incumbent President

, receiving strong support from the industrial areas in the east and south. His worst results were in the west of the country. Kuchma was re-elected in 1999 to his second term. This time the areas that gave him strongest support last time voted for his opponents, and the areas which voted against him last time came to his support. During Kuchma's presidency, he closed opposition papers and several journalists and political opponents, such as Viacheslav Chornovil, died in mysterious circumstances. According to historian Serhy Yekelchyk, President Kuchma's administration "employed electoral fraud freely" during the 2000 constitutional referendum and 1999 presidential elections. File:Вибори 1994.png, Results in the Second round of the 1994 presidential election: Blue – Leonid Kuchma, orange –

File:Вибори 1999.png, Results in the Second round of the 1999 presidential election: Blue – Leonid Kuchma, red –

Petro Symonenko Petro Mykolayovych Symonenko (; born 1 August 1952) is a Ukrainian politician and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Symonenko was the party's candidate in the 1999 and 2004, 2010, and until his with ...

Domestic policy

In October 1994, Kuchma announced comprehensive economic reforms, including reduced

subsidies A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...

, lifting of price controls, lower taxes,

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of industry and agriculture, and reforms in currency regulation and banking. The parliament approved the plan's main points. The

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

(IMF) promised a $360 million loan to initiate reforms. He was re-elected in 1999 to his second term. Opponents accused him of involvement in the killing in 2000 of journalist Georgiy Gongadze, but Kuchma has consistently denied such claims. Critics have also blamed Kuchma for restrictions on press freedom. Kuchma is believed to have played a key role in sacking the Cabinet of

on 26 April 2001. Kuchma's

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

from 2002 until early January 2005 was

, after Kuchma dismissed Anatoliy Kinakh, his previous appointee.

Foreign policy

In 2002, Kuchma stated that Ukraine wanted to sign an association agreement with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

by 2003–2004 and that Ukraine would meet all EU membership requirements by 2007–2011.EU-Ukraine Summits: 16 Years of Wheel-Spinning
''

The Ukrainian Week ''The Ukrainian Week'' (, ) is an illustrated weekly magazine and news outlet covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides a range of analysis, opinion, interviews, feature p ...

'' (28 February 2012) He also hoped for a

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

treaty with the EU. In his inaugural address, Kuchma said: Kuchma signed a "Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership" with Russia, and endorsed a round of talks with the CIS. Additionally, he referred to Russian as "an official language". He signed a special partnership agreement with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and raised the possibility of membership of the alliance. Under Kuchma's leadership, the Armed Forces of Ukraine participated in the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. After Kuchma's popularity at home and abroad sank as he became mired in corruption scandals, he turned to Russia as his new ally. From the late 1990s he adopted a foreign policy which he described as " multi-vector", reaching out to Russia, Europe, and the United States. Critics assessed this policy as manipulating both the West and Russia to the personal benefit of Kuchma and

Ukrainian oligarch Ukrainian oligarchs () are business oligarchs who emerged on the economic and political scene of Ukraine after the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum. This period saw Ukraine transitioning to a market economy, with the rapid privatization of s ...

s. On 4 October 2001, Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 was shot down over the Black Sea by the Ukrainian Air Force while en route to

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

, Russia, from

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. All 78 occupants of the plane, most of whom were Israelis visiting relatives in Russia, were killed. Following the shootdown, Kuchma initially refused to accept the resignation of Oleksandr Kuzmuk, Minister of Defence of Ukraine, and said, "Look what is happening around the world, in Europe. We are not the first, and we will not be the last. There is no need to make a tragedy out of this. Mistakes happen everywhere, and not only on this scale, but on a much larger, planetary scale." A week later, however, Kuchma announced his willingness to cooperate with Russian investigators, apologised to the governments of Russia and Israel, and accepted Kuzmuk's resignation.

Murder of Georgiy Gongadze and Cassette Scandal

From 1998 to 2000, Kuchma's bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko was allegedly eavesdropping Kuchma's office, later publishing the recordings. The release of the tapes – dubbed the Cassette Scandal – supposedly revealed Kuchma's numerous crimes. In particular was his approving the sale of radar systems to

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

(among other illegal arms sales) and ordering the death of journalist Georgiy Gongadze. Ukraine Without Kuchma 6 February

In September 2000, Gongadze disappeared and his headless corpse was found mutilated on 3 November 2000. On 28 November, opposition politician

Oleksandr Moroz Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Moroz (born 29 February 1944) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician. He was the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada twice, from 1994 to 1998 and again from 2006 to 2007. Moroz is one of the founders and the leader of the Soci ...

publicised the tape recordings implicating Kuchma in Gongadze's murder. In 2005, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office instigated criminal proceedings against Kuchma and members of his former administration in connection with the murder of Gongadze. In 2005, the press reported that Kuchma had been unofficially granted immunity from prosecution in return for his graceful departure from office in 2005. Critics of the tapes point to the difficulty of Melnychenko recording 500 hours of dictaphone tape unaided and undetected, the lack of material evidence of said recording equipment, and other doubts which question the authenticity and motive of the release of the tape. Kuchma acknowledged in 2003 that his voice was one of those on the tapes, but claimed the tapes had been selectively edited to distort his meaning. However, the

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 ...

, Carlos Pascual, revealed that the tapes are genuine, undistorted, unaltered, and not manipulated because of the conclusion from

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Electronic Research Facility's analysis of the original recording device and the original recording found that there are not unusual sounds which would indicate a tampering of the recording, the recording is continuous with no breaks, and there is no manipulation of the digital files. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine's Office cancelled its resolution to deny opening of criminal cases against Kuchma and other politicians within the Gongadze-case on 9 October 2010. On 22 March 2011, Ukraine opened an official investigation into the murder of Gongadze and, two days later, Ukrainian prosecutors charged Kuchma with involvement in the murder. A Ukrainian district court ordered prosecutors to drop criminal charges against Kuchma on 14 December 2011 on grounds that evidence linking him to the murder of Gongadze was insufficient."Court clears Kuchma of Gongadze murder charges"
''

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden. In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...

'' (14 December 2011) The court rejected Melnychenko's recordings as evidence. Gongadze's widow, Myroslava Gongadze, lodged an appeal against the ruling one week later. During the trial of Oleksiy Pukach for the murder of Gongadze, he claimed that Kuchma and Kuchma's head of his Presidential Administration,

Volodymyr Lytvyn Volodymyr Mykhailovych Lytvyn (, ; born April 28, 1956) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician best known for being Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian parliament. Having previously served in that position from 2002 until ...

, were the ones who ordered the murder."Court sentences Pukach to life for murdering Gongadze, disregards claims against Kuchma, Lytvyn"
''

'' (29 January 2013)
"Ukraine police officer accuses ex-president after being jailed for life"

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

(29 January 2013)
Gongadze killer pointed on Kuchma and Lytvyn
"LIGABusinessInform". 2013-1-29 Pukach was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of Gongadze. First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin claimed 20 February 2013 that his office had collected enough evidence confirming Kuchma's responsibility for ordering Gongadze's assassination.Ukraine's Leonid Kuchma 'implicated' in Gongadze death

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

(20 February 2013)
Kuchma outraged by reports alleging his arrest

(21 February 2013) Kuchma's reply the next day was, "This is another banal example of a provocation, which I've heard more than enough in the past 12 years".

2004 Ukrainian presidential election and Orange Revolution

Kuchma's role in the

2004 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October, 21 November, 26 December 2004 and 1 January 2005. This was the fourth Ukrainian presidential elections, presidential election in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union. The ...

and subsequent

is not entirely clear. In the run-up to the elections, oligarchs opposed to Leonid Kuchma contributed about $150 million to opposition political parties. According to Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014 and architect of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's policy in the region, the U.S. government spent more than $18 million on "democracy promotion" in the two years leading up to the election. After the second round on 22 November 2004, it appeared that Yanukovych had won the election by fraud, which caused the opposition and independent observers to dispute the results, leading to the Orange Revolution.Paul Quinn-Judge, Yuri Zarakhovich
The Orange Revolution
, ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', 28 November 2004, ''

Ukrainska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...

'', 24 November 2004. Kuchma was urged by Yanukovych and Viktor Medvedchuk (the head of the presidential office) to declare a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

and hold the inauguration of Yanukovych. He denied the request. Later, Yanukovych publicly accused Kuchma of a betrayal. Kuchma refused to officially dismiss Prime Minister Yanukovych after the parliament passed a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

against the Cabinet on 1 December 2004. Soon after, Kuchma left the country. He returned to Ukraine in March 2005. Kuchma said in October 2009 that he would vote for Victor Yanukovych in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election. In a document dated 2 February 2010 and uncovered during 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 ...

, Kuchma, in a conversation with

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 ...

John F. Tefft, called the voters' choice between Yanukovych and

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( Hrihyan born 27 November 1960) is a Ukrainian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005, and again from 2007 until 2010; the first and only woman in Ukraine to hold that position. She has been ...

during the second round of the 2010 presidential election as a choice between "bad and very bad" and praised (the candidate eliminated in the first round of the election)

Arseniy Yatsenyuk Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk (born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served two terms as Prime Minister of Ukraine – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and from 27 November 2014 to 14 April 2016. He was t ...

instead."Kuchma: Yanukovych-Tymoshenko contest a choice between 'bad and very bad'"
''Kyiv Post'' (3 December 2010) In September 2011, Kuchma stated that he believed that Yanukovych was the real winner of the 2004 election.

Post-presidency

Leonid Kuchma has been active in politics since his presidency ended. He aligned himself with President

in 2005, but later raised concerns about the president in correspondence with then U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, John Tefft. Kuchma endorsed Yanukovych for president in 2010.

Involvement in the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine

Kuchma represented Ukraine at negotiations with the armed separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces on 21 June 2014 to discuss President

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 ...

's peace plan. His role as a diplomat was received positively by the west and Russia as well as by the public in Ukraine. On 11 February 2015, Kuchma was one of the signatories of a draft plan to end the conflict in Donbas. The summit was known as Minsk II. The plan ensured that a ceasefire was implemented; reaction from leaders in Europe was generally positive. In March 2015, Kuchma delivered an address calling on the west for greater involvement in the region. He criticized the action of Russian-backed forces in the attempt to seize the town of Debaltseve. In September 2015, Kuchma was again appointed as the representative for Ukraine at the Trilateral Contact Group. The group met in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

to discuss ending the conflict in Donbas. In early 2017, Kuchma spoke out against the transport blockade of Donbas. In March 2017 at the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) in Minsk, he demanded that the Russian Federation repeal their decree on the recognition of passports issued in separatist-held areas. On 2 October 2018, Kuchma stepped down as Ukraine's representative in the Trilateral Contact Group due to his age. He returned to the talks in June 2019, at the request of newly elected Ukrainian president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

and after mediation by Victor Pinchuk. According to American sources, he left the post again in July 2020, citing fatigue. He was replaced by

Russian invasion of Ukraine

When Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kuchma said that he would remain to help defend the country: "I stay at home, in Ukraine, because we are all in our Homeland, there is no other. And we will defend it together until the very victory – without division into party columns, without personal interests and old arguments. United we stand around the Flag, the Army, and the President. Ukraine is not Russia. And it will never become Russia. No matter how hard they want this. We are already winning. And this can’t be stopped. And I will only say to the Russian Federation that I agree with the words of my compatriots who say in one voice: damn you all!". In November 2023, Kuchma presented his new book ''Ukraine is Not Russia: Twenty Years Later''.

Family and personal life

Kuchma has been married to Lyudmyla Talalayeva since 1967.First ladies of Ukraine
ITAR-TASS (6 June 2014) is the Honorary President of the National Fund of Social Protection of Mothers and Children, "Ukraine to Children" and is also known as a paralympic movement in Ukraine supporter. Kuchma's only child, daughter Olena Pinchuk, is married to

Viktor Pinchuk Victor Mykhailovych Pinchuk (; born 14 December 1960) is a Ukrainian businessman and oligarch. As of January 2016, ''Forbes magazine'' ranked him as 1,250th on the list of wealthiest people in the world, with a fortune of US$1.44 billion. ...

, an industrialist and philanthropist whose Victor Pinchuk Foundation regularly hosts Ukraine-dedicated and philanthropic forums at the annual

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

. Victor Pinchuk made headlines when it was revealed that one of his lobbyists was previously picked by Donald Trump for national security aide. Kuchma was an amateur guitar player in his younger years. He was also known for his skill at the complicated

card game A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...

preferans Preferans ( rus, преферанс, p=prʲɪfʲɪˈrans) or Russian Preference is a 10-card plain-trick game with bidding, played by three or four players with a 32-card Piquet deck. It is a sophisticated variant of the Austrian game Préférence ...

.'' In 2003, he published his book, . After retirement, Kuchma was allowed to keep the state-owned

dacha A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of former Soviet Union, post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ...

in Koncha-Zaspa for his personal use upon completion of his state duties. Government order #15-r, which allowed Kuchma to keep his estate, was signed by acting Prime Minister

Mykola Azarov Mykola Yanovych Azarov (; ; née, né Pakhlo, Cyrillic: Пахло; born 17 December 1947) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 11 March 2010 to 27 January 2014. He was the First Vice Prime Minister an ...

on 19 January 2005. Kuchma was also allowed to keep his full presidential salary and all service personnel, along with two state-owned vehicles. That order also stated that these costs would be paid out of the state budget.

Legacy

Kuchma's legacy as President of Ukraine has proven divisive and controversial. He has been commonly referred to as

, and his attacks on independent media, as well as his economic reforms, have continued to impact Ukraine in the years since he left office. Kuchma's detractors have accused him of establishing the

s with his economic reforms, and many oligarchs entered politics during his presidency, among them Kuchma's son-in-law Viktor Pinchuk, Viktor Medvedchuk, Ihor Bakai, Kostyantyn Zhevago and

Heorhiy Kirpa Heorhiy Mykolayovych Kirpa () (20 July 1946 in Klubivka, Khmelnytskyi Oblast – 27 December 2004 in Bortnychi, Kyiv) was a Ukrainian railway manager, statesman and politician, best known as the head of the Ukrzaliznytsia national railway ...

. Kuchma's political legacy has also been impactful. Each of his successors except

began their political career under and with the support of Kuchma. Several other politicians, such as Medvedchuk, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Leonid Derkach,

Volodymyr Horbulin Volodymyr Pavlovych Horbulin ( Ukrainian: Володимир Павлович Горбулін; born 17 January 1939 in Zaporizhia, Ukrainian SSR) is a Soviet and Ukrainian politician, Head of the Council for Foreign and Security Policy, former s ...

, and Oleksandr Omelchenko also were promoted by Kuchma during his tenure in office. Despite numerous human rights abuses during his tenure, such as vote rigging in the 2004 presidential election, and the mysterious deaths of numerous political opponents, among them Gongadze and Viacheslav Chornovil, Kuchma has never been charged with a crime, and numerous attempts to do so have proven unsuccessful.

Awards

Kuchma was awarded the

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Istiglal Order Istiglal Order (), is the highest supreme order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, along with Heydar Aliyev Order. presented by the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan. ''Istiglal'' translates to Sovereignty in Azerbaijani. History and statu ...

for his contributions to Azerbaijan-Ukraine relations and strategic cooperation between the states by

President of Azerbaijan The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. The Constitution of Azerbaijan, Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of Executive (government), executive power, co ...

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev (10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to ...

on 6 August 1999. ;Ukrainian Honours * Order of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) of St. Ilya of Murom, 1st class (2004) * Honorary Citizen of the

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

(2002) ;Foreign Honours * Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

(3 May 1995) * Knight Collar of the Order of Civil Merit (4 October 1996) *

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

, 1st class (Russia, 20 April 2004) – for his contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between Russia and Ukraine * Grand Cross of the

Order of Vytautas the Great The Order of Vytautas the Great () is the Lithuanian Presidential Award.''Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija. 84 straipsnis''. Priimta 1992 It may be conferred on the heads of Lithuania and foreign states, as well as their citizens, for distinguish ...

(Lithuania, 20 September 1996)Lithuanian Presidency
, Lithuanian Orders searching form * Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (Lithuania, 4 November 1998, Ludmila too) * Order of the Golden Eagle (Kazakhstan, 1999) * Grand Cross with Chain of the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

(Romania, 2000) * Order of the Republic (Moldova, 2003) * Order Laila Utama Dardzha Kerabat, 1st class (Brunei, 2004) * Chain of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

(Portugal, 16 April 1998) 3 February 1999 * Order of the "Star of Bethlehem" (State of Palestine, 2000)

Notes

References

External links

Liudmyla Shanghina, "UKRAINE IS NOT AMERICA"
''Razumkov''

(Kuchma's 2005 interview), ''Vremia Novostey'' (Russia) * Korzh, H.
Leonid Kuchma: Real biography of the second President of Ukraine
'. * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuchma, Leonid 1938 births Living people 2003 Tuzla Island conflict 20th-century presidents in Europe 20th-century Ukrainian businesspeople 21st-century Ukrainian businesspeople 21st-century Ukrainian politicians Candidates in the 1994 Ukrainian presidential election Candidates in the 1999 Ukrainian presidential election Chevaliers of the Order of Merit (Ukraine) Collars of the Order of Civil Merit Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) politicians First convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Grand Collars of the Order of Prince Henry Grand Crosses of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Grand Crosses of the Order of Vytautas the Great Independent politicians in Ukraine Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

Leonid Leonid ( ; ; ) is a Slavic version of the given name Leonidas. The French version is Leonide. People with the name include: * Leonid Agutin (born 1968), Russian pop musician and songwriter * Leonid Andreyev (1871–1919), Russian playwright ...

Laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology Oles Honchar Dnipro National University alumni People from Chernihiv Oblast People of the Orange Revolution Politicians from the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Presidents of Ukraine Prime ministers of Ukraine Pro-Ukrainian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Pro-Ukrainian people of the war in Donbas Recipients of the Istiglal Order Recipients of the Lenin Prize Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 1st class Recipients of the Order of Outstanding Merit Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Republic (Moldova) Recipients of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Ukraine without Kuchma Yuzhmash people