Mustafa Masi Nayyem (, ; born June 28, 1981) is an Afghan- Ukrainian journalist, MP, lecturer at the Kyiv School of Economics, and public figure who was influential in sparking the

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

in Ukraine. Since January 2023 Nayyem had been the head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development. He resigned (and was officially dismissed) in June 2024. Prior to this he was Deputy Minister of Infrastructure appointed in August 2021. Formerly, before his bureaucratic career Nayyem was a reporter for the newspaper ''Kommersant Ukraine'', the TVi channel, and the online newspaper ''

Ukrayinska 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 ...

''. He also participates in Ukrainian journalists' anti-

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 ...

movement, "Stop the censorship!" (, Stop tsenzuri!), and

Hromadske.TV hromadske (; lit. ''Public'') is an independent online media in Ukraine. The station was announced in June 2013 by 15 journalists, before commencing operations on 22 November 2013. It is registered as an NGO.the parliamentary elections he was elected to the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

on the list of Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Nayyem did not take part 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 ...

Personal life and education

Nayyem was born in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

in 1981 and lived in an elite district near the Tajbeg Palace. In 1984, ten days after his younger brother Masi Nayyem was born, their mother died. He has stated that he is a Pashtun, a "Muslim by birth", and his native tongue is

Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

. In Afghanistan, his father, Muhammad Naim (), had been Minister of Education and was responsible for the construction of educational facilities before the USSR invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. After the Soviet invasion, his father did not want to work for the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

and quit his post. In 1987 and because of the destruction of the ongoing Soviet Union's War in Afghanistan, his father went to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to study and met Ukrainian Valentina Kolechko whom he later married in early 1989. Mustafa Nayyem became fluent in Russian and Ukrainian after he moved with his father to Moscow in August 1989 living near the Nakhimovsky Prospekt

metro station A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the syste ...

and later to Kyiv in 1990 attending 61st school near the Lukyanivsky market. Nayyem graduated from the Technical Lyceum 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, ...

in 1998, and the Aerospace Systems Department of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in 2004. He speaks fluent Ukrainian, Pashto, Russian, and English. He and Anastasia Ivanova who is from

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

and was a photographer for Kommersant-Ukraine (), have a son, Mark-Mikhei (born 13 January 2008), and both mother and son are Jewish. His brother Masi Nayem is a lawyer and, in April 2016, deployed as a Ukrainian paratrooper to the

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

- Avdiivka industrial zone which was the hottest point of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. During the 2022 full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine Masi Nayem returned to the front. On 5 June 2022 his brother Mustafa Nayyem reported that he had been seriously injured. Masi Nayem survived his injuries, but lost one eye.

Career

Journalism

Nayyem worked as a reporter for the '' Kommersant-Ukrainy'' newspaper from 2005 to 2007, and then for Shuster LIVE, a political talk show on Ukrainian television, from 2007 to 2011. In 2009, Nayyem received national attention following Ukrayina TV channel's live discussion with then-presidential 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 ...

. During the discussion, he questioned Yanukovych about the latter's acquisition of the Mezhyhirya Residence. In 2010, Nayem was briefly detained by police officers, reportedly as a result of

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

for "persons of Caucasian appearance" (a common local term for people from the Caucasus). The following day, Nayem wrote an article in which described the events that led to his detention. He stated, "

Xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

should not become the face of Ukrainian nationality" and requested the dismissal of one of the officers responsible. Nayyem frequently contributes news and articles to ''

''. From September 2011 to late April 2013, he worked for the Ukrainian television channel TVi. After resigning due to a conflict with the channel's new management, he started a web project together with colleagues who also left the channel. Their project was named

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, Nayyem was one of the first activists to urge Ukrainians to gather on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in

to protest

's decision to "pause" preparations for signing the

European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement The European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement is a European Union Association Agreement between the European Union (EU), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), Ukraine and the EU's 28 Member States of the European Union, member stat ...

(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 ...

). His post on Facebook on November 21, 2013, was a summons to rally for the

protests which led to the overthrow of the Yanukovych government, in the so-called

Revolution of Dignity The Revolution of Dignity (), also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capit ...

Politics

Nayyem was included in the electoral list of Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) and 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 ...

(Ukraine's national parliament) on the parliamentary elections of October 26, 2014. He was one of dozens of Euromaidan activists who pivoted from street politics into politics, where they sought to spearhead reform and turn Ukraine into a prosperous European state. Nayyem was a member of the

Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on issues of European integration The Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on issues of European integration (, ) is a Committees of the Verkhovna Rada, standing committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's unicameral parliament. The committee consists of 14 People's Deputy of ...

. At the Rada session of 2 December 2014 he was the only deputy who voted against the cabinet of Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Gradually he began to criticize the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) more and more and stopped voting in sync with it. According to deputy head of the PPB faction Oleksiy Honcharenko by February 2019 he had not attended PPB faction meetings for several years.
In August 2016 Nayyem joined the (political party) Democratic Alliance. From Autumn 2015 until June 2016, he had been part of an attempt to form a political party around then Governor of Odesa Oblast

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...

with members of the parliamentary group Interfactional Union "Eurooptimists", Democratic Alliance and possibly Self Reliance until this projection collapsed in June 2016. In October 2014, in the Parliament, he was engaged in writing draft laws related to anti-corruption and law enforcement activities and was the author of the following draft laws: * on the protection of public order and the state border. * on the activities of the State Bureau of Investigation. * on ensuring transparency and legality of communication with subjects of authority. * on checking drivers of vehicles for intoxication. * about the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. * about the prosecutor's office (regarding the peculiarities of the functioning of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors during the transition period). * on financing the activity of administrative service centers. * about the National Police (regarding the identification of police officers). * regarding the activities of the State Bureau of Investigation. * about the National Bureau of Financial Security of Ukraine. * regarding the improvement of the examination procedure. * regarding the strengthening of responsibility for crimes committed against the sexual freedom and inviolability of minors. In the same year, the curator of the launch of patrol police in

Zakarpattia Oblast Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпатська область), also referred to as simply Zakarpattia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпаття; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Kárpátalja'') or Transcar ...

, namely in the cities of

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...

, Mukachevo,

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

, as well as in Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Rubizhne,

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

. On 28 February 2019 Nayyem voluntarily left the BPP faction. On 21 June 2019 Nayyem announced that he would not take part in the

. ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' described him in 2017 as a reformist parliamentarian. In November 2019 Nayyem was appointed Deputy Director General of Ukroboronprom. He was dismissed from this position on 29 April 2021 due to the position being abolished (which had not been communicated to him). From 4 August 2021 to 28 January 2023 Nayyem was Deputy Minister of Infrastructure.Nayyem to Head State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development

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 ...

(28 January 2023) On 28 January 2023 the

Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine (), is the highest body of state Executive (government), executive power in Ukraine. As the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republi ...

appointed Nayyem as head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development. He resigned on 10 June 2024 after Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal denied his request to attend an upcoming summit on Ukraine's recovery from the

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 ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Nayyem also cited "systemic obstacles" from within the government that affected his duties for his resignation. The official reason given why he could not attend the summit was that Nayyem would had to attend a government meeting with the participation of the Restoration Agency that took place on the day of the conference. He was officially dismissed by the Cabinet of Ministers on 18 June 2024.

Cultural print in Ukrainian politics

Ukrainian entertaining group " Kvartal 95" mentioned Nayyem in their song about Ihor Kolomoyskyi (the name of latter omitted in the song) and their meeting in relation to the " Ukrnafta issue" that surfaced in the Ukrainian media soon after

events.Live sharply and do not let anything drive you down! Glory to Ukraine! Song of Kolomoyskiy (Живите четко и не косячьте! Слава Украине! , Песня Коломойского)
Vecherniy Kvartal at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. 23.05.2015

Awards and honors

In 2010, Nayyem was awarded the Oleksandr Kryvenko prize "For Progress In Journalism" and in 2014 the Gerd Bucerius Prize for Free Press in Eastern Europe.

Notes

References

External links

*
Nayem's blog at Ukrayinska Pravda

Mustafa Nayem: "For a journalist it is silly to be proud of one's honesty; it is included in a set of his professional values"
Interview to the Telekritika portal.
Mustafa-Masi Nayyem
on the

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Nayyem, Mustafa 1981 births Living people Ukrainian Sunni Muslims Ukrainian journalists 21st-century Ukrainian journalists People from Kabul Kyiv Polytechnic Institute alumni People of the Euromaidan Hromadske.TV people TVi (TV channel) people Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Independent politicians of Petro Poroshenko Bloc Ukrainska Pravda Ukrainian anti-corruption activists Ukrainian people of Pashtun descent Democratic Alliance (Ukraine) politicians Afghan emigrants Immigrants to the Soviet Union Free Media Awards winners