Larysa Ivshyna, Marchuk’s wife, informed about this on her Facebook page.

At the same time, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that ‘coronavirus disease exacerbated the illnesses that Marchuk suffered from and provoked acute heart and lung failure’.

 

Yevhen Marchuk

Yevhen Marchuk was born on January 28, 1941 in the village of Dolynivka, Haivoron district, Kirovohrad region.

In 1963, he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Kirovograd Pedagogical Institute with a degree in Ukrainian language and literature.

Later Marchuk obtained a degree in law. He also was PhD in jurisprudence.

 

Career in the KGB, SBU and Cabinet of Ministers

Marchuk began his career in 1963 in the KGB of the USSR, where he worked until the early 1990s.

In June 1991, he was appointed Minister of State for Defense, National Security and Emergencies of the USSR.

In November 1991, Marchuk became the first head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

He held this position until 1994.

Later, Marchuk served as deputy prime minister in several governments, and in 1995 (during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma), he became the prime minister of Ukraine.However, Marchuk was quickly fired in 1996.

On November 9, 1995, as the prime minister, Marchuk took part in a solemn ceremony in Strasbourg, France, on the occasion of Ukraine’s accession to the Council of Europe as its 37th member.

In 1997, Yevhen Marchuk headed a delegation that drafted the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Presidents Leonid Kuchma and Boris Yeltsin signed this document.

After resigning as prime minister, Marchuk did not leave politics and was number two on the SDPU(o) party list in the 1998 parliamentary election.

Marchuk headed the SDPU(o) group in the Verkhovna Rada, but later broke with this political force.

 

Presidential election

In 1999, Yevhen Marchuk ran for president of Ukraine. He became a rival of Leonid Kuchma.

Marchuk received the fourth result (8.13%). Leonid Kuchma defeated communist Petro Symonenko in the second round.

Marchuk became the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

 

Minister of Defense

From June 2003, Marchuk served as the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. He was involved in resolving the conflict over the island of Tuzla (the confrontation between Ukraine and Russia in 2003). Marchuk noted that at that time Ukraine ‘managed to prevent hot development of the situation’.

However, in September 2004, Leonid Kuchma dismissed Marchuk from the post of Defense Minister. He was blamed for unsatisfactory condition of the preservation of ammunition: at that time, there were explosions in warehouses in Melitopol.

The reason for his resignation was the ‘unsatisfactory implementation’ of the president’s order to demilitarize Balaklava Bay in Sevastopol.

On May 19, 2008, Viktor Yushchenko appointed Marchuk an adviser to the President of Ukraine.

 

Participation in TCG

In November 2018, President Petro Poroshenko appointed Marchuk a representative of Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group for the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in Donbas.

He held this position until May 2019.

Yevhen Marchuk was awarded the rank of Army General of Ukraine (by decree of the first President Leonid Kravchuk of March 23, 1994). In addition, he was awarded the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise ‘for outstanding services in strengthening the national security of Ukraine’.

 

Family

Marchuk’s second wife, Larysa Ivshyna, is a Ukrainian journalist, public and culture figure, editor-in-chief of ‘Day’ newspaper. Marchuk has two sons from his first marriage.