Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine

Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine
Ukrainian: Міністерство національної єдності України
Department overview
Formed20 April 2016[1]
JurisdictionGovernment of Ukraine
HeadquartersKyiv, Ukraine
Minister responsible
Websiteminre.gov.ua

The Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Міністерство національної єдності України, romanized: Ministerstvo nasionalnoi ednosti Ukrayiny) is a government ministry in Ukraine officially established on 20 April 2016[1] to manage occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea regions affected by the Russian military intervention of 2014. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry also managed the newly-occupied territories across Ukraine, especially Kherson and Zaporizhzhia which were annexed by Russia along with Donetsk and Luhansk.

The Honcharuk Government in August 2019 merged the Ministry for Veterans Affairs into the ministry.[3] But its succeeding Shmyhal Government reversed this merger in March 2020.[4]

History

Vadym Chernysh was on 14 April 2016[5] appointed as the first Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs in the Groysman government.[5] On 20 April 2016 his ministry was created by merging the State Agency for restoration of Donbas (formerly part of Ministry of Regional Development) and the State Service for Russian annexed Crimea and Sevastopol (formerly under direct administration of the Cabinet of Ukraine).[1] Chernysh is the former head of the State Agency for restoration of Donbas.[6]

The ministry tries to "search for solutions and reintegration strategies" for Ukraine to regain control Crimea and parts of the historical region Donbas.[7] Ukraine lost control over Crimea, which was unilaterally annexed by Russia in March 2014.[8][9][nb 1] In the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian protests escalated into an armed separatist insurgency early in April 2014, when masked gunmen took control of several of the region's government buildings and towns.[8][11] This led to the creation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.[8][12] Violence between the Ukrainian army and the forces of the two breakaway republics escalated into an armed conflict known as the Russo-Ukrainian War.[13][14] The war in Donbas led to 1.6 million people becoming internally displaced persons, according to the registry of the Ukrainian government.[15] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported in March 2016 that 800,000 to 1 million of them lived within Ukrainian government controlled Ukraine.[15]

The Honcharuk Government (on 29 August 2019) merged the Ministry for Veterans Affairs into the ministry degrading the first to an agency as it previously existed.[3] On 23 January 2020 then Minister Oksana Koliada stated that the Ministry would likely be split up again into a separate Ministry for Veterans Affairs with the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs to be renamed "Ministry of Reintegration".[16] Indeed, on 4 March 2020 the new Shmyhal Government undid the merge of the two ministries.[4] It also renamed the ministry: Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories.[4]

On 19 November 2024 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of a new (to be formed) ministry, that he then named Ministry of Unification of Ukrainians.[17] Zelenskyy claimed this new ministry was necessary for the "institutional strengthening of the policy towards Ukrainians abroad, towards our people from all waves of migration."[17]

On 3 December 2024 the government decided to rename the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories to its new name: the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine.[2][18] According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal this renamed ministry would conduct the task of the ministry that President Zelenskyy spoke of on 19 November 2024.[18] Early December 2024 the Ukrainian diaspora organizations European Congress of Ukrainians [uk] and Ukrainian World Congress had not been informed about the creation of this ministry that was aimed to facilitate them.[18]

List of ministers

Heads of predecessor government agencies of the ministry

State Agency for restoration of Donbas

Name of minister Term of office
Start End
Andriy Nikolayenko 22 September 2014 14 October 2014
Vadym Chernysh 26 June 2015 20 April 2016

State Service on issues of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol city

Name of minister Term of office
Start End
Aslan Ömer Kırımlı 14 May 2015 19 August 2015
Nariman Ustayev 20 August 2015 20 April 2016

List of ministers of the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories [and IDPs]

Name of ministry Name of minister Term of office Photo
Start End
Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs Vadym Chernysh[5] 20 April 2016[6][nb 2] 29 August 2019[5]
Temporarily Occupied Territories, IDPs and veterans Oksana Koliada 29 August 2019 4 March 2020
Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksii Reznikov 4 March 2020[4] 3 November 2021[19]
Iryna Vereshchuk 4 November 2021[20] 8 August 2024[21]

List of ministers of the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine

Name of ministry Name of minister Term of office Photo
Start End
Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov[2] 3 December 2024[2]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The status of the Crimea and of the city of Sevastopol is currently under dispute between Russia and Ukraine; Ukraine and the majority of the international community consider the Crimea to be an autonomous republic of Ukraine and Sevastopol to be one of Ukraine's cities with special status, while Russia, on the other hand, considers the Crimea to be a federal subject of Russia and Sevastopol to be one of Russia's three federal cities.[8][10]
  2. ^ Chernysh was appointed the Minister on 14 April 2016,[5] while the ministry was approved to be established only on 20 April 2016.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c (in Ukrainian) The Cabinet decided to create the Ministry of temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons, Ukrayinska Pravda (20 April 2016)
  2. ^ a b c d "The government has decided to rename the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories to the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine". Ukrinform. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b New Cabinet formed in Ukraine The Rada appointed the new Cabinet: Avakov and Markarova remained (РАДА ПРИЗНАЧИЛА НОВИЙ КАБМІН: АВАКОВ І МАРКАРОВА ЛИШИЛИСЬ), Ukrayinska Pravda (29 August 2019)
  4. ^ a b c d "Ukraine's new Cabinet of Ministers". Ukrinform. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e New Cabinet formed in Ukraine, UNIAN (14 April 2016)
    Week’s balance: PM Groysman, Rada’s sabotage, and disappointing IMF forecast, UNIAN (18 April 2016)
  6. ^ a b c (in Ukrainian) Cabinet of Ukraine approved creation of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs. Radio Liberty. 20 April 2016
  7. ^ (in Ukrainian) Vadim Chernish, Minister of temporarily occupied territories and IDPs: "The State shall clearly outline the position on the occupied territories and the people who were there", Zerkalo Nedeli (15 April 2016)
  8. ^ a b c d Ukraine crisis timeline, BBC News
  9. ^ EU & Ukraine 17 April 2014 FACT SHEET Archived 14 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, European External Action Service (17 April 2014)
  10. ^ Gutterman, Steve (18 March 2014). "Putin signs Crimea treaty, will not seize other Ukraine regions". Reuters.com. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  11. ^ Masked gunmen tighten grip on eastern Ukraine, Reuters (30 April 2014)
  12. ^ Eighteen of thirty-four district election commissions in Donetsk and Luhansk regions captured – CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (22 May 2014)
  13. ^ Grytsenko, Oksana (12 April 2014). "Armed pro-Russian insurgents in Luhansk say they are ready for police raid". Kyiv Post.
  14. ^ Leonard, Peter (14 April 2014). "Ukraine to deploy troops to quash pro-Russian insurgency in the east". Yahoo News Canada. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  15. ^ a b Over 3 mln people live in conflict zone in Ukraine's east – UN report, Interfax-Ukraine (3 March 2016)
  16. ^ (in Ukrainian) Two ministries will be in charge of Donbas: they will divide the Ministry of Veterans, Ukrayinska Pravda (23 January 2020)
  17. ^ a b "Zelenskyy announces creation of Ministry of Unification of Ukrainians". Ukrainian News Agency. 19 November 2024. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  18. ^ a b c Maria Horban (3 December 2024). "Ministry of unity, about which nothing is known, and multiple citizenship. How is the government going to return Ukrainians?". Radio Free Europe (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  19. ^ Parliament sacks Deputy Prime Minister Reznikov, Ukrinform (3 November 2021)
  20. ^ "Vereshchuk appointed Ukraine's deputy prime minister". www.ukrinform.net. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  21. ^ Maryna Pohorilko (9 August 2024). "Zelensky appointed advisers to the president and deputy heads of the OP: published decrees". Obozrevatel (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 4 December 2024.