Oleh Barna

Ukrainian human rights activist and politician (1967–2023)

Олег Барна
Barna in 2015
People's Deputy of UkraineIn office
27 November 2014 – 29 August 2019Preceded byIvan StoikoSucceeded byVolodymyr HevkoConstituencyTernopil Oblast, No. 167Mayor of NahiriankaIn office
2002–2010Preceded byIgor PyrenSucceeded byPetro Holovatskyi Personal detailsBorn(1967-04-18)18 April 1967
Nahirianka, Ternopil Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet UnionDied17 April 2023(2023-04-17) (aged 55)
Pavlivka, Donetsk Oblast, UkraineCause of deathKilled in actionPolitical partyPetro Poroshenko BlocRelativesStepan Barna (brother)Military serviceAllegiance
AwardsOrder for Courage

Oleh Stepanovych Barna (Ukrainian: Олег Степанович Барна; 18 April 1967[1] – 17 April 2023) was a Ukrainian human rights activist and politician who served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Barna fought during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was killed in action on 17 April 2023.[2] Honorary Citizen of Ternopil (2023, posthumously).[3]

Biography

Barna served in the Soviet Army from 1985 to 1987.[4]

In October 1990 Barna, as a 5th-year student, took part in the hunger strikes of the Revolution on Granite.[4]

From 1991 to 2014 Barna worked as a teacher of mathematics, physics, computer science, and pre-service training in Rydoduby and Bilobozhnytsia in Ternopil Oblast's Chortkiv Raion.[5] In 2000, he was an organizer of the Ukraine without Kuchma protests.[5] In the same year he took part in by-elections for the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament) as a candidate in the 167th electoral district in Ternopil Oblast, but he withdrew his candidacy in favour of Serhii Zhyzhko [uk].[5] (Zhyzhko was a candidate of Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists and failed to get elected to parliament in this election.[6])

Barna was Mayor of Nahirianka from 2002 to 2010.[5]

In the second round of 2004 Ukrainian presidential election Barna worked in the electoral headquarters of Viktor Yushchenko in Kharkiv Oblast's Chuhuiv Raion.[5] In the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election Barna headed the electoral headquarters for Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in Chuhuiv Raion.[5]

Barna took part in the 2013–2014 Euromaidan protests and was seriously hurt during clashes on 18 February 2014 at Mariinskyi Park.[1]

In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Barna was a candidate for the Petro Poroshenko Bloc in electoral district 167.[1] He was elected with 27.51%[7] of the total votes cast in the district a Deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation.[1] In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Barna failed to get reelected in district 167 for European Solidarity.[5] He lost to independent candidate Volodymyr Hevko who won the district with 22.21%.[8][9]

In July 2014 he volunteered to fight in the war in Donbas with the 128th Guards Mountain Brigade.[4]

In 2015 Barna publicly fought with the then Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in parliament.[1] On 11 December 2015, he at first presented Yatsenyuk with flowers and then tried to carry him out of his rostrum.[10]

On 17 April 2023, former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko reported that Barna was killed in combat during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[11][1] On the first day of the 24 February 2022 full-scale invasion Barna signed up as a volunteer at the front.[1] On 18 April a military spokesman confirmed Barna's death, but on the same day Poroshenko and Barna's brother, the Ukrainian politician Stepan Barna,[1] stated that his brigade had not confirmed his death.[1] The brothers fought together in the war,[1] in the 68th Jager Brigade. A spokesman for the brigade stated the body of Barna had not yet been evacuated from the battlefield, so he was not officially declared dead.[11] The spokesman did state: "everything points to the fact that he died."[11] On 19 April 2023 his death was officially confirmed.[2] Barna died during the Battle of Vuhledar in the village of Pavlivka.[2] According to Poroshenko, Barna died of a bullet wound in the neck.[2]

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Кобзар, Юрий (18 April 2023). "На фронті загинув екс-нардеп Олег Барна" (in Ukrainian). unian.net. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d The details of the death of ex-Deputy Oleh Barna in the war have become known Archived 20 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine, TSN.ua (in Ukrainian) (19 April 2023)
  3. ^ Ще 16 військовослужбовцям присвоєно звання «Почесний громадянин міста Тернополя» посмертно, Тернопільська міська рада, 28.04.2023.
  4. ^ a b c (in Ukrainian) Oleh Barna biography Archived 18 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Lb.ua [uk] (access date 18 April 2023)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Small biography on Oleh Barna Archived 18 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Civil movement "Chesno" (in Ukrainian) (access date 18 April 2023)
  6. ^ Small biography on Serhiy Zhyzhk Archived 18 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Civil movement "Chesno" (in Ukrainian) (access date 18 April 2023)
  7. ^ Barna won the elections to the Rada in district #167 in the Ternopil region Archived 18 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Ukrainian News Agency (in Ukrainian)
  8. ^ "Гевко Володимир Леонідович" [Hevko, Volodymyr Leonidovych]. Chesno (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Rada election results by county". RBK Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  10. ^ Bouquet and brawl in Ukrainian parliament Archived 18 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine , Politico (11 December 2015)
  11. ^ a b c В преддверии своего дня рождения: на фронте погиб военный и экс-нардеп Олег Барна Archived 18 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine, 24 Kanal (in Ukrainian) (18 April 2023)
  12. ^ Decree of the President of Ukraine from 24 August 2023 year № 517/2023 «Про відзначення державними нагородами України» (in Ukrainian)

External links

  • Media related to Oleh Barna at Wikimedia Commons
  • Барна Олег Степанович // Слово і Діло
  • Барна Олег Степанович // LB.ua