Olena Lukash

{{Short description|Ukrainian jurist and politician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2014}}

{{family name hatnote|Leonidivna|Lukash|lang=Eastern Slavic}}

{{update|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Olena Lukash

| image = Olena Lukash.jpg

| caption = Lukash in 2014

| office = 13th Minister of Justice of Ukraine

| primeminister = Mykola Azarov

| term_start = July 4, 2013

| term_end = February 27, 2014

| predecessor = Oleksandr Lavrynovych

| successor = Pavlo Petrenko

| office2 = Minister of Cabinet of Ministers

| term_start2 = December 24, 2012

| term_end2 = July 4, 2013

| primeminister2 = Mykola Azarov

| predecessor2 = Anatoly Tolstouhov

| office3 = People's Deputy of Ukraine

| term_start3 = May 25, 2006

| term_end3 = December 12, 2012

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1976|11|12}}

| birth_place = Rybnitsa, Moldavian SSR (now Moldova)

| party = Party of Regions

| otherparty =

| religion =

| birthname =

| nationality =

| residence =

| spouse = Hryhoriy Ilyashov

| children = 2

| alma_mater = Academy of Labor and Social Relations

| occupation = Politician

| profession =

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

| native_name_lang = uk

| native_name = {{Nobold|{{lang|uk|Олена Лукаш}}}}

}}

Olena Leonidovna Lukash ({{langx|uk|Олена Леонідівна Лукаш}}; born 12 November 1976) is a Ukrainian former jurist, politician, former Minister of Justice of Ukraine, as well as a former member of the Party of Regions. She was a Merited Jurist of Ukraine (2010).[http://www.president.gov.ua/documents/12346.html Presidential Ukase № 936/2010 of October 7, 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128032312/http://www.president.gov.ua/documents/12346.html |date=January 28, 2014 }}

From February 2014, Lukash was wanted for charges of murder and mass complicity in the Revolution of Dignity when President Yanukovych fled to Russia.

{{Cite web |title=Dossier - Trombinoscope des criminels - Comité Représentatif de la Communauté Ukrainienne en France (CRCUF) |url=http://crcuf.fr/dossier/trombinoscope-criminels |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220031757/http://crcuf.fr/dossier/trombinoscope-criminels |archive-date=December 20, 2014 |access-date=December 20, 2014}}{{Cite web |title=МВС оголосило в міждержавний розшук Азарова |url=http://www.5.ua/polityka/mvs-oholosylo-v-mizhderzhavnyi-rozshuk-azarova-33168.html}}{{Cite web |date=March 6, 2014 |title=Yanukovych heads list of those wanted for crimes - Mar. 07, 2014 |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-heads-list-of-those-wanted-for-crimes-338668.html}} She is believed to have fled to Russia in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity.{{Cite web |title=Ukraine’s Ex-Justice Minister Detained |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-lukash-justice-minister-detained/27347491.html |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |language=en}} From then she was also placed on an EU sanctions list.{{Cite web |title=EU sanctions against Serhiy Kliuyev extended – Ukrainian prosecutor general |url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/268659.html}} From June 2015 Lukash was also wanted on abuse of office and fraud charges.{{Cite web |date=June 4, 2015 |title=Ukraine's ex-minister of justice Lukash suspected of embezzlement, forgery - PGO - Jun. 04, 2015 |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukraines-ex-minister-of-justice-lukash-suspected-of-embezzlement-forgery-pgo-390278.html}} On November 5, 2015, the Security Service of Ukraine arrested Olena Lukash upon her return to Kyiv from Russia,[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/301809.html SBU arrests former justice minister Olena Lukash] and a court was opened to file charges against her. However on November 10, she was released on bail of over 5 million Hryvnia after she claimed that she deliberately had gone to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine to give evidence for an investigation into the deaths of over a hundred people in the Revolution of Dignity.{{Cite web |title=Ex-justice minister Lukash released on bail |url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-crime/1911527-ex-justice-minister-lukash-released-on-bail.html |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=www.ukrinform.net |language=en}} In 2020, it was alleged that Lukash was currently hosting a program and guest-appearing on pro-Russian channels owned by Viktor Medvedchuk, as part of a wider Russian disinformation campaign against Ukraine.{{Cite web |website=uacrisis.org |date=21 May 2020 |access-date=2023-09-14 |title=#KremlinNarratives: Olena Lukash on feudalization |url=https://uacrisis.org/en/kremlinnarratives-olena-lukash-on-feudalization}}

Life and career

{{update|date=February 2021}}

Born on November 12, 1976, in Rybnitsa, Moldavian SSR, Lukash lived in Severodonetsk since 1977. She graduated from the Academy of Labor and Social Relations at the Trade Union Federations of Ukraine in 2000.

In 2001, she received a certificate to conduct jurist activities and in 2001–03 directed a company "Agency "In the Name of Law" (Агентство "Іменем Закону"). In 2004–05 Lukash was a senior instructor at the Ukrainian academy of foreign trade and later the Jurist Agency "Libera". In 2005 she defended several participants of the "Severodonetsk Congress".

From 2006 to 2012, she was elected to the Verkhovna Rada. During that time Lukash was a People's Deputy of Ukraine and the First Deputy Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers. In 2010–11[http://president.gov.ua/documents/10581.html president.gov.ua] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128053129/http://www.president.gov.ua/documents/10581.html |date=January 28, 2014 }} Presidential Ukase of March 4, 2011, № 289/2010 she was the First Deputy Chairman of Presidential Administration and represented the President of Ukraine in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. In December 2012 Lukash was appointed the Minister of Cabinet of Ministers.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

On July 2, 2013, Oleksandr Lavrynovych was elected as member of the Supreme Council of Justice of Ukraine.[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/159160.html Judges Kolesnychenko, Kuzmyshyn, Justice Minister Lavrynovych elected as Supreme Council of Justice members], Interfax-Ukraine (July 2, 2013) Lukash replaced Lavrynovych as Justice Minister 2 days later.[http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-justice-minister-appointment/25036829.html Ukrainian President Appoints New Justice Minister ], Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (July 4, 2013)

Family

Her younger sister Tetyana, Merited Jurist of Ukraine (2010), is a member of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine.

Lukash's husband Lieutenant General Hryhoriy Ilyashov is a former director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine. He was replaced in late June 2014.{{cite web|title=Viktor Hvozd appointed Chief of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service|url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/193270.html|website=Interfax-Ukraine|access-date=27 June 2014}}

Sanctions

References

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