Oleksii Kaida

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Petrovych and the family name is Kaida.

Oleksii Kaida
Олексій Кайда
Kaida in 2011
People's Deputy of Ukraine
In office
12 December 2012 – 27 November 2014
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byTaras Pastukh
ConstituencyTernopil Oblast, No. 163
Head of the Ternopil Oblast Council
In office
26 March 2009 – 23 November 2012
Preceded byMykhailo Mykolenko [uk]
Succeeded byVasyl Khominets [uk]
Personal details
Born (1971-02-27) 27 February 1971 (age 53)
Berdiansk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)
Political partySvoboda
Other political
affiliations		People's Movement of Ukraine
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2013; div. 2016)​
Alma materLviv Polytechnic
Military service
AllegianceUkraine
Years of service
  • 2015
  • 2022–present
Unit
Battles/wars

Oleksii Petrovych Kaida (Ukrainian: Олекс́ій Петро́вич Кайда́; born 27 February 1971) is a Ukrainian politician from Svoboda who served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 163rd electoral district from 2012 to 2014. Prior to his election, he was Chairman of the Ternopil Oblast Council from 2009 to 2012.

Early life and career

Oleksii Petrovych Kaida was born on 27 February 1971 in the city of Berdiansk in southeastern Ukraine. Following his graduation from school in 1988 he began working at a shoe factory. He helped to organise the People's Movement of Ukraine and the Taras Shevchenko Society for the Ukrainian Language [uk] in Berdiansk, as well as the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.[1] From 1989 to 1994 he studied at Lviv Polytechnic, graduating with a specialisation in system engineering. He joined the Social-National Party of Ukraine in 1994.[2]

Political career

Kaida first attempted to join the Verkhovna Rada (parliament of Ukraine) during the 1998 election, as part of the Less Words [uk] bloc's proportional representation list. He was not elected. He was a parliamentary aide to Oleh Tyahnybok, who was elected from Less Words and later from the Our Ukraine Bloc, from 1999 to 2006.[citation needed]

Kaida was elected to the Lviv Oblast Council during the 2006 Ukrainian local elections. He partook in the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election on the proportional representation list of the Svoboda party, although he was not elected, and he continued to serve in the Lviv Oblast Council until 2009, when he was elected to the Ternopil Oblast Council. He was selected as the council's chairman, and continued to hold the office until 2012.[3]

People's Deputy of Ukraine

Kaida again ran to become a People's Deputy of Ukraine during the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, running in Ukraine's 163rd electoral district in the city of Ternopil. He was successfully elected with 56.65% of the vote, defeating lieutenant general of the Militsiya and Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform candidate Vitalii Maksymov [uk], who gathered 15.18%.[4] He was deputy leader of Svoboda in the 7th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada.[3]

Along with mayor of Ternopil Serhiy Nadal, Kaida visited Pope Benedict XVI in May 2011. The two were permitted a private audience with the Pope, during which they asked him to give blessings to Svoboda in their efforts to increase spirituality in Ternopil Oblast.[5]

Kaida ran for re-election in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, again running in the 163rd electoral district. He was defeated after gathering only 23% of the vote, as part of a broader societal reaction against Svoboda due to a decrease in political polarisation.[6]

Later political career

Kaida has attempted on multiple occasions to make a comeback following his electoral defeat. In 2015, he was appointed deputy mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk for land and architectural issues, and he unsuccessfully sought election to the Kyiv City Council. He again ran in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election as the 17th candidate on the proportional representation list of Svoboda.[2]

Kaida was briefly detained on 12 December 2019 after getting into a fight with incumbent People's Deputy Andriy Bohdanets in the Verkhovna Rada building. Kaida, along with fellow former People's Deputies from Svoboda Eduard Leonov [uk] and Ihor Miroshnychenko, punched Bohdanets until he was hospitalised with a concussion. The fight occurred in response to Bohdanets's support for legalising the private sale of land.[7]

Military career

Following his defeat, Kaida was mobilised into the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2015, alongside other former People's Deputies from Svoboda.[2] He fought in the war in Donbas, at various points serving in the Sich Battalion[8] or the Svoboda Legion [uk].[9] He was one of seven former People's Deputies from Svoboda to fight in the Sich Battalion.[8] He served for 14 months as an artilleryman before being demobilised.[10]

After the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Kaida rejoined the Armed Forces and took part in the battle of Kyiv. He later joined the 45th Artillery Brigade [uk],[9] and fought in the battles of Kupiansk, Bakhmut, and Lyman.[10] On 25 December 2023, he was awarded the Silver Cross of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine [uk] by Valerii Zaluzhnyi.[9]

References

  1. ^ Besiduvala, Liubov (28 October 2009). "Олексій Кайда: "Головне завдання — знайти порозуміння з громадою"" [Oleksii Kaida: "The main task is to find understanding with society"]. Holos Ukrayiny (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Кайда Олексій Петрович" [Kaida, Oleksii Petrovych]. LB.ua (in Ukrainian). 27 December 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Кайда Олексій Петрович" [Kaida, Oleksii Petrovych]. Chesno (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Одномандатний виборчий округ №163 (Тернопільська область)" [Single-mandate electoral district No. 163 (Ternopil Oblast)]. Central Election Commission (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Папе Римскому рассказали о Тернопольщине" [Pope told about Ternopilshchyna]. LB.ua (in Russian). 27 May 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  6. ^ Rak, Roman (31 October 2014). ""Свобода" вибору" [Freedom of choice]. Zaxid.net (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  7. ^ Mazurenko, Aliona (12 December 2019). "Бійка в Раді: екснардепа від "Свободи" вночі вивезли у відділок поліції" [Beating in the Rada: ex-People's Deputy from Svoboda taken to police station at night]. Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b ""Свобода" відправила в зону АТО батальйон "Січ"" [Svoboda sends Sich Battalion to ATO zone]. Zaxid.net (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "Екс-нардеп з Тернопільщини, який воює на передовій, отримав нагороду від Залужного (фото)" [Ex-People's Deputy from Ternopilshchyna fighting on frontlines receives award from Zaluzhnyi (photo)]. Ternopiliany (in Ukrainian). 3 January 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  10. ^ a b Tsvyk, Oksana; Maksymliuk, Oksana (27 January 2024). ""Артилеристів ЗСУ в полон не беруть": колишній голова Тернопільської обласної ради, боєць ЗСУ Олексій Кайда" ["The AFU's artillerymen are not taken prisoner": former head of the Ternopil Oblast Council and AFU soldier Oleksii Kaida]. Suspilne (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 8 July 2024.