Former head of the Ukrainian Nationalist Congress in Ivano-Frankivsk, Levko Slyuzar, has died.

On Sunday, November 17, Levko Slyuzar passed away at the age of 90. He was the head of the Ivano-Frankivsk city organization of the Ukrainian Nationalist Congress from 1994 to 2005. This was announced by the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ruslan Martinkiv.

Who was Levko Slyuzar

According to a member of the Ukrainian Nationalist Congress, Yarema Petriv, Levko Slyuzar was born on January 14, 1934, in the village of Stari Skoromokhy, Halyskyi district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Together with his wife, Slyuzar (Kamín) Melaniya Stepanivna, they raised two children: a daughter Lyuba born in 1958 and a son Volodymyr born in 1960, who tragically died in 1986.

The Slyuzar family suffered from repressions by the Soviet authorities due to their nationalist activities. Father, Slyuzar Volodymyr Ivanovych was sentenced in 1948 (died in 1988); brother, Slyuzar Yosyp Volodymyrovych was arrested in 1950 and sentenced to execution in 1951.

In 1952, Slyuzar L.V. and his mother, Slyuzar Emiliya Stepanivna (who died in 1962), were sentenced to exile in a special settlement for five years with property confiscation and served their punishment in the village of Blahodatne, Akmolinsk region in Kazakhstan. They returned to Ukraine in 1954 after an amnesty related to the death of the General Secretary of the USSR, Stalin. The Slyuzars were rehabilitated in 1994 as victims of political repressions in Ukraine.

Since the restoration of Ukrainian statehood, Slyuzar was actively involved in public and political activities. He participated in numerous trips to other regions of Ukraine to promote the ideas of national state-building.

In 1995, Slyuzar L.V. initiated the annual celebration of the "Heroes' Day", which takes place on the last Sunday of May. That same year, he organized an international youth judo tournament in honor of the birthday of the OUN leader Stepan Bandera. This tournament is held annually. Slyuzar also established the celebration of the Day of the Proclamation of the Act of Restoration of Ukrainian Statehood on June 30, 1941, in Lviv. He organized an annual competition for the best patriotic artistic work and drawing "The Good of the Nation is the Highest Goal of Man on Earth" dedicated to the memory of Yaroslav Stetsko. Slyuzar was also actively involved in the patriotic education of military personnel and was awarded certificates and accolades from military leaders.

From 1996 to 2004, Slyuzar L.V. was a member of the regional drafting commission for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and was responsible for drafting at the Ivano-Frankivsk city military commissariat. At his initiative, a cross was established at the military memorial complex honoring the soldiers who died during World War II.

Levko Slyuzar was the initiator of the creation of the public-political association "Ukraine" in Ivano-Frankivsk, which included seven political parties and 17 public organizations in the city. This association enabled the effective promotion of nationalist positions in the city. In 2001, the youth patriotic organizations of Ivano-Frankivsk city proposed the candidacy of Slyuzar L.V. for the city competition "Person of the Decade", where he won in the "Politician of the Decade" nomination.

Since August 2016, Slyuzar has been a member of the leadership of the city organization of the Ukrainian National Assembly.

For his active public and political activities, Levko Slyuzar was awarded a commemorative medal "For the 90th Anniversary of the Birth of Stepan Bandera", the medal "15 Years of the Armed Forces of Ukraine", and letters of appreciation from heads of government bodies, political parties, and public organizations.

It should be noted that earlier, the head of the Crimean organization of the "Ukrainian Nationalist Congress" Vasyl Ovcharuk passed away from illness.