On July 10, the War Museum hosted an event in commemoration of Hero of Ukraine Levko Lukianenko – dissident, prominent political and public figure, human rights defender, diplomat, and writer. The event took place with the participation of Levko Hryhorovych’s wife. The moderator was Museum scholar Roman Kabachii.
In his opening remarks, Yurii Savchuk, Director General of the War Museum, emphasized: “The history of the Ukrainian people’s struggle for independence cannot be imagined without the figure of Levko Lukianenko. For each of us, he is a symbol of resilience, courage, honor, dignity, and selfless service to our nation”.
Levko Lukianenko’s wife, Nadiia Ivanivna, shared memories of her husband’s life and political path. According to her, Levko Hryhorovych considered freedom and Ukraine’s state independence to be the highest and dearest values. He dedicated his entire life to the struggle for Ukraine.
Levko Lukianenko founded the underground Ukrainian Workers and Peasants Union, which advocated for Ukraine’s peaceful withdrawal from the ussr. He was convinced this was not a crime, since, according to the soviet constitution, every republic formally had this right. However, in 1961, for his involvement in this organization, he was sentenced to the highest punishment – execution by firing squad. He spent 72 days in the death row cell. Later, the sentence was commuted to 15 years in prison. In 1977, he was imprisoned again for 10 years and declared an “especially dangerous repeat offender”.
In the Mordovian and Perm camps and prisons, Levko Lukianenko endured both psychological and physical abuse, but the Soviet regime failed to break his will to continue the struggle for his convictions. In 1988, while still imprisoned, he was elected in absentia as the head of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union. In 1990, he founded and led the Ukrainian Republican Party and was elected a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for several convocations. He is the author of the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. In 1992, he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Canada. In 1994, he was elected head of the Association of Holodomor Researchers in Ukraine.
According to his wife, Levko Lukianenko was deeply concerned about the fate of Ukraine during the trials caused by Russian aggression. In response to a question from the Museum’s Deputy Director Dmytro Hainendinov about how her husband envisioned Ukraine’s future, Nadiia replied:“Ukraine will certainly win. Moscow cannot prevail because it has violated all norms of international law, and the entire world has seen this and stands against Muscovy”.
Nadiia donated items from the family archive to the Museum’s collection: photographs of Levko Lukianenko at various events, a copy (draft) of the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, a book with his dedications “In Lawsuits”, a parliamentary handbook, and more.
The War Museum sincerely thanks Nadiia Ivanivna and all participants for honoring the memory of the renowned dissident and fighter for the revival of Ukrainian statehood, Levko Lukianenko.
