Yuri Kravchenko

Biography of Yuri Kravchenko

Date of Birth: March 5, 1951

Place of Birth, Education. Born in the city of Oleksandriya, Kirovohrad region. In 1970, he graduated from the Oleksandriya Industrial Technical School. In 1978, he obtained a higher education degree from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in Gorky. In 1998, he defended his dissertation at the University of Internal Affairs in Kharkiv and received the title of Candidate of Legal Sciences.

Career. Yuri Kravchenko began his professional career in 1970 at the shaft No. 3-bis in the Kirovohrad region as an electrical locksmith. From 1970 to 1972, he served in the military. Throughout his career, he worked as an electrician at the Kirovohrad Machine Factory and held various positions in internal affairs.

Tragic End. On March 4, 2005, a day before his birthday, Yuri Kravchenko was found dead in his dacha in the elite 'Golden Gates' settlement near Kyiv. According to the official version, Kravchenko committed suicide by shooting himself twice in the head. Investigators found a farewell letter, the contents of which Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko disclosed: 'My dear ones, I am innocent of everything. Forgive me, I have become a victim of political intrigues from President Kuchma and his entourage. I leave you with a clear conscience, farewell.'

However, Police General Konstantin Bril, one of Yuri Kravchenko's closest friends, claimed in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda that the former Interior Minister could not have taken his own life and that he was killed because of his knowledge of the Georgiy Gongadze case. 'He knew about the journalist's death, including the actions, people, and even the date and time,' he believed. Bril was also convinced that Kravchenko did not tell anyone about his suspicions. At the same time, he emphasized that Yuri Kravchenko assured his relatives several times that he had nothing to do with the disappearance and death of Georgiy Gongadze.

Awards and Titles. Honored Jurist of Ukraine. He received the Order of Prince Bogdan Chmelnitsky III Class and two ecclesiastical orders - the Order of Saint Dimitri of Thessaloniki III Class and the Order of Saint Prince Vladimir the Great I Class.

Family. Yuri Kravchenko is survived by a wife and two daughters.

August 6, 2009