Lesia Volodymyrivna Vasylenko (; born March 31, 1987) is a Ukrainian lawyer and politician serving 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 ...

in the

9th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 9th convocation (, ) is the current convocation of the legislative branch of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Unicameralism, unicameral parliament. The 9th convocation meets at the Verkhovna Rada building in Kyiv ...

. Vasylenko is a member of the Ukrainian permanent delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

and president of the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

's Bureau of Women Parliamentarians. She is the founder of , a human rights

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that provides assistance to servicemen and veterans.

Early life and education

Vasylenko was born 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, ...

Volodymyr Vasylenko Volodymyr Andriyovych Vasylenko (; 16 January 1937 – 9 October 2023) was a Ukrainian diplomat who twice served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine. Education Volodymyr Vasylenko graduated from Taras Shevchenko Nation ...

, a

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist. She completed a master's degree in international law at the of the

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

and an LL.M. at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Career

Vasylenko worked as a

corporate lawyer A corporate lawyer or corporate counsel is a type of lawyer who specializes in corporate law. Corporate lawyers working inside and for corporations are called in-house counsel. Roles and responsibilities The role of a corporate lawyer is to e ...

. At the beginning of the Euromaidan revolution in 2013, she protested frequently at the

Maidan Nezalezhnosti Maidan Nezalezhnosti (, ) or Independence Square is the central town square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square contains the iconic Ind ...

. After visiting a hospital during the

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 ...

in June 2014, Vasylenko learned that wounded soldiers were unaware of their rights to compensation. Many of the soldiers she spoke with struggled to pay for their medical treatments. In January 2015, she founded , a human rights

that provides assistance to servicemen and veterans. In 2016, Vasylenko was named by the ''

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 ...

'' as one of the top 30 young under-30 leaders. In June 2019, it was announced that Vasylenko and Oleksandra Ustinova would be joining the Holos party. In the

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, the elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parli ...

, Vasylenko was elected a

of the

. She is a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management. Vasylenko is a member of the permanent delegation to the

. Vasylenko is a member of the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation to the

where she serves as president of its Bureau of Women Parliamentarians. She is co-chair of the interparliamentary relations group to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. On 12 December 2019, Vasylenko joined , an inter-factional association to promote humanistic values and prevent

cruelty to animals Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction of suffering or Injury, harm by humans upon animals, either by omission (neglect) or by commission. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm ...

. During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Vasylenko armed herself with several guns to protect her family. She said on 26 February 2022 that the Russian military was targeting Ukrainian civilians to make the country surrender. On 1 March, Vasylenko evacuated her three children from her home in Kyiv. On 4 March, she said the invasion was the start of

World War III World War III, also known as the Third World War, is a hypothetical future global conflict subsequent to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). It is widely predicted that such a war would involve all of the great powers, ...

. Vasylenko became one of the initiators of the international #unrussiaUN campaign aimed at excluding Russia from the UN.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasylenko, Lesia Living people 1987 births 21st-century Ukrainian lawyers 21st-century Ukrainian women politicians 21st-century Ukrainian women lawyers Activists from Kyiv Alumni of University College London Human rights lawyers Inter-Parliamentary Union Lawyers from Kyiv Ninth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Politicians from Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of International Relations alumni Ukrainian human rights activists Ukrainian women activists Holos (political party) politicians Women human rights activists Women members of the Verkhovna Rada