Former Kremlin political prisoner Mykola Karpiuk was killed on front line
Mykola Karpiuk, a civil society and political activist and former Kremlin political prisoner, has been killed on the front line.
The tragic news was reported on Facebook by Viktor Yahun, a former deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), according to Censor.NET.
Karpyuk was killed on the front line
"Yesterday (19 September – ed.) my friend Mykola Karpiuk was killed on the front line. It is very difficult to write about him in the past tense. Mykola was one of those people for whom Ukraine was not just words, but a part of his very life. He made his choice a long time ago and remained true to it under all circumstances. He had to endure many hardships. What might have broken another man did not break him. He remained true to himself — straightforward, principled, and deeply committed. And even when he had every right to say, ‘I’ve done enough’, he was once again where he felt he needed to be. On the front line… Mykola remained true to his choice – Ukraine – until the very end," he wrote.
The location and circumstances of Mykola Karpiuk’s death are currently unknown.
What is known about Mykola Karpiuk?
Mykola Karpiuk was born on 21 May 1964 in the village of Velykyi Zhytyn in the Rivne region. He was a turner by trade. After Ukraine declared independence, he devoted himself to political and civic activities, heading the Rivne branch of the UNA-UNSO.
- In 2000–2001, Karpiuk took part in the ‘Ukraine without Kuchma’ campaign. He was sentenced to 4.5 years’ imprisonment for his participation in the protests.
- In March 2014, he was abducted by the Russian security services at the border in the Chernihiv region. A court in Russia, the aggressor state, sentenced him to 22.5 years’ imprisonment on trumped-up charges – allegedly for taking part in hostilities in Chechnya from 1994 to 2001.
- Karpiuk spent five years in a Russian prison, returning home in September 2019 as part of a prisoner exchange.
Upon returning to Ukraine, Karpiuk continued his civic work and later defended the state as a member of the armed forces.
