Ukraine’s 1st President Kravchuk dies aged 88

Leonid Kravchuk, Ukraine’s first president who led the country’s independence from the Soviet Union,  died on May 10 aged 88, Ukrainian officials confirmed on Tuesday

Andriy Yermak, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, confirmed the death without giving further  details. 

However, Kravchuk had been in poor health and had to undergo a heart operation last year.

As president, Kravchuk gave his consent to transfer remaining Soviet nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory to Russia,which was a deal backed by the US.

He lost the 1994 presidential race  to former PM  Leonid Kuchma. In 2020 he returned to politics in an attempt to negotiate a settlement as part of a “contact group” for the conflict in eastern Ukraine.