Maksym Buzhanskyi

Ukrainian blogger and politician (born 1974)
Максим Бужанський
People's Deputy of Ukraine
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 August 2019Preceded byMaksym KuriachyiConstituencyDnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine's 25th electoral district Personal detailsBorn (1974-11-24) 24 November 1974 (age 49)
Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Dnipro, Ukraine)Political partyServant of the People

Maksym Arkadiyovych Buzhanskyi (Ukrainian: Максим Аркадійович Бужанський; born 24 November 1974, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian politician and blogger.[1] He was elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election.

Early life

Buzhanskyi was born on November 24, 1974,[2] in Dnipropetrovsk in a Jewish family of engineers.[3] His grandfather is Moisei Yurievich Buzhanskyi (born 1924 in Kharkiv) — a participant in the German-Soviet war, awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree.[4] In 1992—1997 he studied at the Dnipro National University of Rail Transport, majoring in bridges and transport tunnels (urban engineer).

Buzhanskyi stated in 2014 that he had voted for Viktor Yanukovych and that he was sincerely nostalgic for the USSR.[5]

In 2017–2020, he was a co-author and television presenter of political programs on the ZIK TV channel [uk],[6][7] from 2020 to 2022 on the Ukraine 24 TV channel.

In 2017 Buzhanskyi claimed on Facebook that the 2014 Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine had led to "Collapsed police, medicine, education, and many other things, which I, for some unknown reason, regretting your feelings, do not mention, on your conscience."[8] And in an interview with Strana.ua he said that "the only result" of the Revolution of Dignity "is the legalization of Nazism."[8] And in the fall of 2018 he claimed that the "Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact" (between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was "a brilliant diplomatic success of the USSR."[8]

Candidate for People's Deputies from the Servant of the People party in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election. (constituency 25, Chechelivskyi District of Dnipro).[9] At the time of the election: the manager of Arna LLC lived in Dnipro.[10]

In 2019 Buzhanskyi repeatedly ridiculed Ukrainian nationalists Roman Shukhevych and he called Stepan Bandera a "Polish terrorist."[5]

Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement.[11]

During the preparations for the 2020 Ukrainian local elections, Buzhanskyi was appointed chairman of the Dnipro city organization of the political party Servant of the People.[12]

Legislative activities

On 19 February 2020 Buzhanskyi refused to stand up during a moment of silence in parliament for the people killed in the 2014 Revolution of Dignity.[13]

Buzhanskyi is the author of the law on preventing and combating Antisemitism in Ukraine.[14][15] According to the document, manifestations of antisemitism include, among other things, calls for the murder of Jews and its justification, Holocaust denial, deliberate destruction of buildings and places of worship for Jews.[16] The document stipulates that a person who suffers from manifestations of antisemitism will be entitled to compensation for moral and material damage, and the perpetrators will be subject to civil and criminal liability.[15] On September 22, 2021, the Verkhovna Rada passed the law in its second reading. The bill was supported by all factions and deputy groups of the Rada, except for the parties European Solidarity and Holos.[15] On October 7, 2021, the law was signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[17]

In July 2021 an amendment to Ukrainian languages laws proposed by Buzhanskyi to abolished fines for refusing service in Ukrainian and to allow to study the Russian language in schools and universities failed to become law (42 deputies voted for the amendment).[18][19]

He is also the author of the law on voluntary military registration for women.[20] On October 7, 2022, the law was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada.[21] The bill appeared after the order of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine came into force, expanding the list of professions for women who must be registered with the military. The document applied to women working in the field of librarianship, musical art, science, banking and other areas. A petition appeared on the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine for the abolition of the order, which gained 25,000 votes in just 4 days.[22]

In 2022 Buzhanskyi tried to block consideration of the law "On Geographical Names."[5] This law prohibits toponymy that symbolizes or glorifies Russia & the USSR, their memorial sites, dates, events, individuals who carried out aggression against Ukraine (or another country), as well as totalitarian policies and practices of the Soviet Union and Russia, including Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.[23]

Buzhanskyi voted against the instatement of the new public holiday Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II 1939 – 1945.[2] When interviewed about this on national TV on 31 May 2023 he refused to speak Ukrainian and instead spoke in Russian; claiming "most Ukrainians also speak Russian"[2] According to research by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology 58% of Ukrainians speak Ukrainian in everyday life (at the end of 2022).[2][24]

Awards

He was awarded the medal "For Merits to the City" by the Dnipro City Council.[25]

Books

  • Buzhanskyi M. A. History of the world in 88 chapters. Publishing house: Folio, 2017. ISBN 978-966-03-7943-5.
  • Buzhanskyi M. A. History for the lazy. Publishing house: Folio, 2018. ISBN 978-966-03-8180-3.

References

  1. ^ "Центральна виборча комісія - Вибори народних депутатів України 2019". www.cvk.gov.ua. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  2. ^ a b c d "Proved that he could speak Russian: People's Deputy Buzhansky refused to switch to Ukrainian on the air". Ukrainska Pravda – Zhyttia ("Life") (in Ukrainian). 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  3. ^ (in Ukrainian) Small biography on Maksym Buzhanskyi, Lb.ua [uk] (as published on 14 November 2020)
  4. ^ Украина, Комментарии. "Персона Бужанский Максим Аркадьевич | Комментарии Украина". comments.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  5. ^ a b c Small biography on Maksym Buzhanskyi, Civil movement "Chesno" (in Ukrainian)
  6. ^ "Депутати від партії "Cлуга Народу" в мажоритарних округах". Servant of the People (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 2019-08-17. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Бужанський Максим Аркадійович". Chesno (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 2019-08-18. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  8. ^ a b c {in lang|uk} Who is Buzhansky, who called the journalist a "dumb sheep". BBC News Ukrainian, August 19, 2019
  9. ^ ""Слуга народу" представила мажоритарників у 23 областях і Києві". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  10. ^ "Центральна виборча комісія - Вибори народних депутатів України 2019". www.cvk.gov.ua. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  11. ^ "Парламент затвердив список своїх комітетів і їх склад. ХТО В ЯКОМУ - Новинарня". novynarnia.com (in Ukrainian). 2019-08-29. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  12. ^ Artem Klymenko (2020-06-20). "Нардеп Бужанский стал главой организации "Слуги народа" в Днепре". dnepr.news. Archived from the original on 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  13. ^ (in Ukrainian) Buzhanskyi refused to stand during the moment of silence for the dead on the Maidan, Lb.ua [uk] (19 February 2020)
  14. ^ "Проект Закону про запобігання та протидію антисемітизму в Україні". kmu.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). Government of Ukraine.
  15. ^ a b c "Рада ухвалила закон проти антисемітизму". news.liga.net. 2021-09-22.
  16. ^ Vera Sosenkova (2021-09-23). "В Украине принят закон о противодействии антисемитизму". dw.com. Deutsche Welle.
  17. ^ "Володимир Зеленський підписав закон про запобігання та протидію антисемітизму в Україні". president.gov.ua. Office of the President of Ukraine. 2021-10-07.
  18. ^ (in Ukrainian) The budget bill was adopted without Buzhanskyi's linguistic amendment, Lb.ua [uk] (July 15, 2021)
  19. ^ "Нардеп від "Слуги народу" Бужанський хоче скасувати закон про..." (in Ukrainian). December 10, 2019.
  20. ^ "До Ради внесли законопроєкт про те, щоб зробити військовий облік для жінок добровільним". nv.ua. New Voice. 2021-12-28.
  21. ^ Stanislav Pogorilov (2022-10-07). "Рада прийняла закон про добровільний військовий облік для жінок". pravda.com.ua. Ukrayinska Pravda.
  22. ^ "Отмена воинского учета для женщин: петиция к Зеленскому набрала более 25 тысяч голосов". focus.ua. Focus. 2021-12-27.
  23. ^ "Zelenskyy signs law banning geographical names associated with Russia". Ukrayinska Pravda. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  24. ^ "In 4 years, the number of Ukrainian-speaking citizens increased by 8% - survey". Ukrainska Pravda – Zhyttia ("Life") (in Ukrainian). 9 January 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  25. ^ "Борис Філатов нагородив відомих українських блогерів почесними медалями - Дніпровська міська рада". dniprorada.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-01-19.