Valentyna Petrivna Semenyuk-Samsonenko (; 4 June 1957 – 27 August 2014) was a Ukrainian politician. She was 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 ...
of 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 ...
from 1994 to 2006. She also served as Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine from 2005 to 2008. In August 2014, Semenyuk-Samsonenko committed suicide, although the
National Police of Ukraine
The National Police of Ukraine (, ; /NPU ), often simply referred to as the (), is the national, and only, police service of Ukraine. It was formed on 3 July 2015, as part of the post-Euromaidan reforms launched by Ukrainian president Petro Por ...
would investigate her death on suspicion of murder until proceedings closed in April 2017.
Early life
She was born on 4 June 1957 in Zarichchia, which was part of the Ruzhyn Raion 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. ...
at the time of her birth. In 1974, she started working as a clerk and deputy of the Ruzhyn village council of people's deputies and headed the drama circle for culture in Ruzhyn. In 1977, after marrying, Semenyuk switched to doing
Komsomol
The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...
work.
In 1982, she graduated from the
Zhytomyr National Agroecological University
The Polissia National University (), known as the Zhytomyr National Agroecological University prior to 2020, is a public university in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. The university provides specialists in the majority of national economic sectors in the Ukrai ...
with a degree as an economist organizer of agricultural production. She then became a senior accountant of the centralized accounting department of the Department of Agriculture and a senior economist of the Ruzhyn district planning commission. In 1990, she became secretary of the Ruzhyn District 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 ...
, which she did until the Communist Party's ban in 1991 and so she worked as a senior economist of the district plan and head of the socio-economic department of Ruzhyn.
Personal life
Semenyuk-Samsonenko was married to businessman Vitaly Samsonenko from 2008 to 2012. Her first husband was Anatoliy Semenyuk, the couple raised two daughters. Anatoliy Semenyuk died in 1995.
Death
The body of Semenyuk-Samsonenko was found with a firearm wound to the head on 27 August 2014 at 19:00 local time in the suburb of Kyiv village of Chaiky (
Kyiv-Sviatoshyn Raion
Kyiv-Sviatoshyn Raion () was a raion (district) in Kyiv Oblast of Ukraine, adjacent to the city of Kyiv which served as the administrative center for the raion. The city of Kyiv itself did not belong to the raion. The raion was abolished on 18 J ...
). The body was discovered by Semenyuk's daughter. The official cause of death was suicide.
Police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
closed criminal proceedings over the death in April 2017.
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 ...
UNIAN
The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News () is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian news agency. It produces and provides political, business and financial information, and a photo reporting service. As of October 2022, it was the most v ...