Tetiana Chornovol facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tetiana Chornovol
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| Тетяна Чорновол | |
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| Born |
Tetiana Mykolaivna Chornovol
4 June 1979 |
| Other names |
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| Citizenship | Ukraine |
| Alma mater | Kyiv International University |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1995–present |
| Political party |
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| Spouse(s) | Mykola Berezovyi |
| People's Deputy of Ukraine | |
| In office 27 November 2014 – 29 July 2019 |
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| Personal details | |
| Residences | Boryspil Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine |
| Military service | |
| Rank | Senior lieutenant |
| Awards |  |
Tetiana Mykolaivna Chornovol (Ukrainian: Тетяна Миколаївна Чорновол; born on June 4, 1979) is a brave Ukrainian journalist and activist. She became well-known as one of the leaders during the Euromaidan protests. Tetiana is famous for her reports that uncover corruption and for taking direct action to make a difference. In 2014, she was elected to the Verkhovna Rada, which is Ukraine's parliament.
On December 25, 2013, Tetiana was attacked and badly beaten by a group of men near Kyiv. This event was widely reported and condemned by many. She was taken to the hospital with a broken nose and a concussion.
From 2014 to 2019, she was a member of the "People's Front" party in parliament. She also served on the parliament's committee for national security and defense.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Tetiana Chornovol was born in Kyiv, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Her parents came from the Cherkasy Oblast region in central Ukraine. Today, she lives in a suburb of Kyiv called Hora.
In 2001, she finished her studies at the Faculty of Journalism at the Kyiv International University.
Tetiana's Journalism Career
Tetiana Chornovol has worked for many Ukrainian newspapers and websites. Her main focus has always been on politics and uncovering corruption. She also reported from areas where there were conflicts after the Soviet Union broke apart.
From 2001 to 2004, she was in charge of a special section called "Theme of the week" in "The Peak" magazine.
Investigating Corruption
In 2004, Tetiana started to focus on investigative journalism. This means she dug deep to find hidden information. She wrote for several Ukrainian online newspapers like Ukrainska Pravda and Livyi Bereh. She often wrote about how some Ukrainian politicians and business people got their wealth, and if they were involved in any illegal activities.
In 2008, a court in London ruled against Obozrevatel newspaper because it published articles by Tetiana that linked a businessman, Rinat Akhmetov, to criminal actions. The newspaper later apologized, saying the information was not checked and was false. However, Tetiana herself refused to apologize, believing she had done nothing wrong.
Tetiana also wrote articles about the properties of then-President Viktor Yanukovych. She reported on his very fancy countryside home. In 2012, she even climbed the walls of his huge property, called "Mezhyhirya," and explored it for hours before being stopped by security. She was the first journalist to investigate this property back in 2006.
Recent Investigations and Impact
Just before she was attacked in December 2013, Tetiana had been investigating the properties of Ukraine's police chief, Vitaliy Zakharchenko, and the country's top prosecutor, Viktor Pshonka. She published reports with photos of these places.
After the attack, her colleagues and husband said they suspected everyone Tetiana had written about, including President Yanukovych, of being involved in ordering the attack.
Activism and Political Journey
Tetiana Chornovol has a background in nationalist politics. When she was 17, she joined an organization called UNA-UNSO. She later became their press secretary. She left the group when she felt they betrayed their principles. After that, she became an independent activist.
Tetiana has openly said that she sometimes broke small rules during her protests and investigations, like going onto private property or spray-painting things. She believes these actions are a way of peaceful protest.
A Long-Time Activist
Tetiana has been part of many important protests in Ukraine since the late 1990s. These include "Ukraine without Kuchma" in 2001, the Orange Revolution in 2004, and the Euromaidan protests. During the "Ukraine without Kuchma" protests, she even handcuffed herself to train tracks to make a point.
From 2011 to 2013, Tetiana took part in several risky protests in Kyiv. These protests were against illegal building projects and the destruction of old buildings. She once climbed a tall crane and another time occupied a high ledge of the Kyiv City Council building. Construction workers threw bricks at her while she was on the crane, but they missed. Firefighters had to remove her from the council building.
During the first week of Euromaidan, Tetiana quickly jumped into a van that was suspected of spying on protest leaders. She broke the roof window with a cobblestone to stop any evidence from being destroyed. The van turned out to be a spy vehicle belonging to Ukraine's Security Service.
On December 1, 2013, Tetiana was seen breaking windows at Kyiv City Hall during protests. She later explained that taking over the city hall was important so that activists could warm up from the freezing temperatures. The building was used for this purpose from then on.
Running for Parliament
Tetiana ran for parliament in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election in the Lviv Oblast region. She represented the "Batkivshchyna" party but did not win. She came in second place.
The December 25 Attack
In the early morning of December 25, 2013, around 1:30 AM, Tetiana Chornovol was severely beaten by a group of men. This happened near Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv. The attack caused a huge outcry in Ukraine and around the world.
Her car was forced off the road by another car, a Porsche Cayenne. Two attackers then pulled her from her car, beat her, and left her in a ditch. The attack happened just hours after Tetiana published an article about a fancy home she believed was being built for the police chief, Vitaliy Zakharchenko.
Tetiana was taken to the hospital. Doctors found she had a broken nose, a concussion, and many bruises.
Public Reaction
Many people were very upset by the attack. Euromaidan activists organized a protest at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, calling for the police chief to resign.
In an interview from her hospital bed, Tetiana said that her investigations were the only reason for the attack. She did not believe it was a random road rage incident or a trick to blame the authorities.
Organizations like the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the U.S. embassy in Ukraine strongly condemned the attack. Opposition parties blamed the authorities.
Investigation and Aftermath
The driver of the car that hit Tetiana's car was arrested on December 25, 2013. He then helped police identify two other attackers, and one of them was also arrested. In total, five suspects were detained by the Ukrainian police.
Tetiana's husband said the incident was an attempted murder, meaning they tried to kill her. He believed the police were not taking the crime seriously enough. Tetiana herself thought the attack was ordered by President Viktor Yanukovych because of her ongoing investigations into his new luxury home.
After the attack, Tetiana needed several surgeries on her nose and eye. She also recovered from a severe concussion. By December 30, she was out of intensive care but stayed in the hospital. On January 7, 2014, she was ready to leave, but she chose to stay longer. A Canadian doctor, Dr. Richard Hareychuk, even raised money for her and traveled to meet her.
On February 21, 2014, when Euromaidan protesters entered President Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya residence, they found "black lists" of journalists and activists who were against him. These lists included a special file on Tetiana Chornovol, with her photos and car license plate.
Tetiana's Political Career
On March 5, 2014, Tetiana Chornovol was appointed to lead the Ukrainian government's National Anti-Corruption Committee. She resigned on August 18, 2014, saying that there wasn't enough political will in Ukraine to fight corruption on a large scale.
Tetiana became a founding member of the new "People's Front" party on September 10, 2014. She was elected to parliament in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election as the second person on the party's list, right after the prime minister.
In 2015, she started a legal case against a member of parliament, Oleksandr Onyshchenko, and the head of the State Fiscal Service, Roman Nasirov. This was for not paying billions in taxes related to gas and oil companies.
Tetiana also started her own investigation into crimes committed by Onyshchenko. When parliament voted on whether to remove Onyshchenko's special protection as a deputy, Tetiana wore a sweater with horses on it. This was a symbolic gesture, as Onyshchenko was known for his love of horses.
In 2016, a bill proposed by Tetiana Chornovol was passed. This bill helped to stop a scheme that allowed alternative energy companies to make extra profits, which had been set up during the previous government.
In 2017, Tetiana strongly spoke out against blocking trade with companies in certain parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. She believed this blockade was harmful to Ukraine and was even started by Russia's security service. She argued that factories in the occupied areas still paid taxes to Ukraine and supplied important materials.
In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Tetiana was on the party list for "European Solidarity." However, the party won fewer seats than her position on the list, so she did not return to parliament.
Fighting for Stolen Money
As a member of the National Security and Defense Committee, Tetiana focused on getting money for defense factories to fix and upgrade military vehicles.
In 2015, she worked with Serhiy Pashynskyi to propose a law about "special confiscation." This law aimed to take back $1.5 billion of former President Yanukovych's money that had been frozen in Ukrainian banks after the Euromaidan protests. This money was needed to fund the defense factories. Tetiana worked for more than two years to get these funds confiscated, which finally happened in May 2017. She wrote several bills to create a legal way to take back this money, similar to laws in many Western European countries.
However, none of her bills were fully supported by parliament. Tetiana believed that people connected to Yanukovych were trying to stop the money from being taken back. In 2016, this even caused military equipment repair factories to stop working.
When a new top prosecutor was being chosen, Tetiana's political group agreed to support Yuriy Lutsenko if he would help with the "special confiscation." In May 2017, the Prosecutor General's Office, led by Yuriy Lutsenko, successfully confiscated the $1.5 billion into Ukraine's state budget.
Some anti-corruption groups criticized the way Yanukovych's assets were confiscated. Tetiana believed this criticism came from lawyers who had previously helped Yanukovych's government with their financial schemes. This led Tetiana to propose new rules that would require public officials in anti-corruption organizations to declare their income and assets.
Serving in the War Against Russia
In 2014, Tetiana Chornovol helped defend the city of Mariupol as part of the "Azov" battalion.
Since February 24, 2022, Tetiana Chornovol has been fighting on the front lines as part of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade. A few days before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, she took a training course to operate anti-tank guided missiles. She received an ATGW Stuhna missile system and rockets. She has taken part in battles in Chernihiv, in eastern Ukraine, and helped defeat a Russian tank regiment in the Brovary district of the Kyiv region.
In 2023, Tetiana Chornovol received the military rank of Senior lieutenant.
Awards and Recognition
Tetiana Chornovol received the Order for Courage 3rd class on March 6, 2019.
In 2014, Foreign Policy magazine named Tetiana Chornovol one of the top 100 thinkers in the world. She was recognized for her fight against the Yanukovych government and corruption.
In 2015, she was featured in a documentary film called "Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine." The film shows how Ukrainians acted during the 2014 revolution and the Russian military actions.
Private Life
Tetiana Chornovol is a widowed mother of two children. Her husband, Mykola Berezovyi, was a volunteer soldier in the Azov Battalion. He was killed on August 10, 2014, during fighting in eastern Ukraine. Tetiana and Mykola met at a political rally. Their younger child was born in October 2010. In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she joined the Ukrainian armed forces as a reserve soldier.
