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Independent Ukraine’s first president dies at 88

By Associated Press
Published: May 10, 2022, 3:51pm
4 Photos
FILE - U.S. President Bill Clinton and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk shake hands following their press conference at Kyiv's airport, Jan. 12, 1994.
FILE - U.S. President Bill Clinton and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk shake hands following their press conference at Kyiv's airport, Jan. 12, 1994. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander, file) Photo Gallery

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Leonid Kravchuk, who led Ukraine to independence amid the collapse of the Soviet Union and served as its first president, has died, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday. He was 88.

Andriy Yermak, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, confirmed Kravchuk’s death on the social media app Telegram without giving details of the circumstances. Kravchuk had been in poor health and underwent a heart operation last year.

Kravchuk led Ukraine as its Communist Party boss in the waning years of the Soviet Union, and played a pivotal role in the demise of the USSR before holding the Ukrainian presidency from 1991 through 1994.

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