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Nelya Shtepa

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Nelya Shtepa
Неля Штепа
Nelya Shtepa at 9 May in Sloviansk.jpg
Mayor of Sloviansk
In office
31 October 2010 – 9 July 2014
Personal details
Born (1960-09-13) 13 September 1960 (age 62)
Sloviansk
Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Ihorivna and the family name is Shtepa.

Nelya Ihorivna Shtepa (Ukrainian: Неля Ігорівна Штепа; Russian: Не́ля И́горевна Ште́па, Nelia Igorevna Shtepa) is a Ukrainian politician. She was mayor of Sloviansk from 2010 until 2014, when Russian paramilitary troops[1][2] occupied the city. She was imprisoned by the separatists because she refused to fully co-operate with them, freed by Ukrainian forces, but then imprisoned again by Ukrainian authorities for alleged collusion with the Donetsk People's Republic.

Discover more about Nelya Shtepa related topics

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the native language of the Ukrainians.

Russian language

Russian language

Russian is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living East Slavic languages, and is also a part of the larger Balto-Slavic languages. Besides Russia itself, Russian is an official language in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and is used widely as a lingua franca throughout Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and to some extent in the Baltic states. It was the de facto language of the former Soviet Union.

Sloviansk

Sloviansk

Sloviansk is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located in the north of the region, in the valley of the Kazennyi Torets River, a right-tributary of the Donets. The city was known as Tor until 1784. Sloviansk had a population of 105,141, but during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the population had shrunk to around 24,000 by July 2022, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Siege of Sloviansk

Siege of Sloviansk

The siege of Sloviansk was an operation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to recapture the city of Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast from pro-Russian insurgents who had seized it on 12 April 2014. The city was taken back on 5 July 2014 after shelling from artillery and heavy fighting. The fighting in Sloviansk marked the first major military engagement between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces, in the first run of battles in 2014.

Donetsk People's Republic

Donetsk People's Republic

The Donetsk People's Republic is an unrecognised republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, with its capital in Donetsk. The DPR was created by militarily-armed Russian-backed separatists in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022.

Life

She was born as Nelya Ihorivna Lytvyn (Ukrainian: Неля Ігорівна Литвин) on 13 September 1960 in Sloviansk, then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.[3][4][5] Shtepa entered Sloviansk State Pedagogical Institute in 1979, and began her career as a teacher in 1984. She later held administrative positions, and became a headmistress. During these years, she was a member of the Communist Party. She began to work for Komsomol in 1987. From 1990, she worked in various enterprises as a sales director, and then in some charities. In the 2000s, she joined the Party of Regions. She was elected mayor of Sloviansk on 31 October 2010, winning more than 60% of the vote.[5]

Mayor of Sloviansk during Siege of Sloviansk

Amidst rising unrest in eastern and southern Ukraine, separatist militants seized a police station in the city of Sloviansk on 13 April 2014. At the time of the seizure, Mayor Shtepa spoke in support of militants, saying that they were local residents, and that she agreed that a referendum on the status of the Donbas region should be held.[6] On the same day, the Ukrainian government launched a military operation to reclaim government buildings occupied by pro-Russian militants across the region.[7] As this operation began, Shtepa said that she did not actually support the separatists, and that their actions were "an occupation". She said that she had only pretended to support them, in an effort to free dozens of hostages held in Sloviansk city buildings that the separatists had seized.[6] Separatist militant Vyacheslav Ponomarev declared himself "people's mayor" of Sloviansk on 14 April, apparently usurping Shetpa. On the following day, she said that the Sloviansk militants were "green men", a reference to the unmarked Russian soldiers that seized Crimea in the lead up to its annexation by Russia in February–March 2014.[6][8] Two days later, she told journalists that many in her city desired more autonomy for the regional government, but that more than 75 percent of Sloviansk residents wanted to remain part of Ukraine.[9]

Nelya Shtepa disappeared on 18 April. At the time, Amnesty International reported that she had attempted to meet with Vyacheslav Ponomarev at the Sloviansk city administration building, and that she had likely been held captive by Ponomarev.[10] In Shtepa's own description of what happened, revealed months later after her eventual release, militants entered her home late at night on 17 April. They forced her into a car, and took her to the city administration building. Ponomarev attempted to force Shtepa to sign a letter of resignation. She refused, and he then beat her into submission. Subsequently, she was forced to voice support for the separatists in a number of interviews with the Russian media, whilst being held captive in the basement of the city administration building.[9]

Shtepa was not freed until 5 July 2014, when Ukrainian forces retook Sloviansk.[9] She was then detained by members of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on 11 July for allegedly colluding with the separatists, taken to a prison in Kharkiv, and charged under articles 110 (violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine) and 258 (creation of a terrorist organisation) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.[9][11] The Kharkiv regional prosecutors' office announced on 31 October 2014 that it was seeking a sentence of life imprisonment.[12] Amnesty International and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have expressed concerns about the fairness of the judicial proceedings against Shtepa. Journalist and Euromaidan activist Irma Krat, who was also held with Shtepa by Vyacheslav Ponomarev, has refuted the charges against Shtepa, and has volunteered to speak on her behalf.[9] One of the main witnesses for Shtepa's defence, her deputy mayor, was abducted on 30 January 2015, and later found dead. This development was labelled "concerning" by an OHCHR report.[11]

She was released from prison on 20 September 2017, and placed under house arrest.[13] A few weeks later, she was said to have "disappeared".[14] As of mid of 2018, she was known to visit her doctor for intravenous therapy due to heart attack.[15]

After Siege of Sloviansk

Shtepa was a candidate on the national list for the Opposition Platform — For Life party in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[16] In this election the party won 37 seats on the nationwide party list (and 6 constituency seats), but Shtepa was not elected.[17]

On 24 October 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ukraine should pay Shtepa 3,600 euros in compensation because it violated her right to a trial "within a reasonable time".[18][19] The court turned down her request of 60,100 euros compensation, finding the claims excessive and unfounded.[18]

In January 2020, Shtepa announced that she intended to run for election to become mayor of Sloviansk in the 2020 Ukrainian local elections.[18] She was indeed nominated by the Party for Peace and Development, Shtepa also leads the electoral list of this party for the Sloviansk City Council.[20]

Discover more about Life related topics

Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)

Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)

The Communist Party of Ukraine was the founding and ruling political party of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic operated as a republican branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). No decision of the government of Ukraine was adopted without approval of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. The Communist Party of Ukraine is not one and the same party as the Ukrainian Communist Party or Ukrainian Communist Party (Borotbists).

Komsomol

Komsomol

The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, a syllabic abbreviation of the Russian Коммунистический Союз Молодёжи, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it was officially independent and referred to as "the helper and the reserve of the CPSU".

2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine

2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine

From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the success of Euromaidan in ousting then-President Viktor Yanukovych. The unrest, supported by Russia in the early stages of the Russo-Ukrainian War, has been referred to in Russia as the "Russian Spring".

Siege of Sloviansk

Siege of Sloviansk

The siege of Sloviansk was an operation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to recapture the city of Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast from pro-Russian insurgents who had seized it on 12 April 2014. The city was taken back on 5 July 2014 after shelling from artillery and heavy fighting. The fighting in Sloviansk marked the first major military engagement between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces, in the first run of battles in 2014.

Donbas

Donbas

The Donbas or Donbass is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Little green men (Russo-Ukrainian War)

Little green men (Russo-Ukrainian War)

Little green men are masked soldiers of the Russian Federation who appeared during the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014 in unmarked green army uniforms and carrying weapons and equipment.

Crimea

Crimea

Crimea is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukraine. To the east, the Crimean Bridge, constructed in 2018, spans the Strait of Kerch, linking the peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia. The Arabat Spit, located to the northeast, is a narrow strip of land that separates the Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. Across the Black Sea to the west lies Romania and to the south is Turkey. The largest city is Sevastopol. The region has a population of 2.4 million, and has been under Russian occupation since 2014.

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation

In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula, taking it from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.

Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments." The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders.

Security Service of Ukraine

Security Service of Ukraine

The Security Service of Ukraine or SBU is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian government, in the areas of counter-intelligence activity and combating organized crime and terrorism. The Constitution of Ukraine defines the SBU as a military formation, and its staff are considered military personnel with ranks. It is subordinated directly under the authority of the president of Ukraine. The SBU also operates its own special forces unit, the Alpha Group.

Kharkiv

Kharkiv

Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine. Located in the northeast of the country, it is the largest city of the historic Slobozhanshchyna region. Kharkiv is the administrative centre of Kharkiv Oblast and of the surrounding Kharkiv Raion. It has a population of 1,421,125.

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Some countries have life imprisonment sentences as 25 years, such as the United States. Crimes for which, in some countries, a person could receive this sentence include murder, torture, terrorism, child abuse resulting in death, rape, espionage, treason, drug trafficking, drug possession, human trafficking, severe fraud and financial crimes, aggravated criminal damage, arson, kidnapping, burglary, and robbery, piracy, aircraft hijacking, and genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, severe cases of child pornography, or any three felonies in case of three-strikes law. Life imprisonment can also be imposed, in certain countries, for traffic offences causing death. Life imprisonment is not used in all countries; Portugal was the first country to abolish life imprisonment, in 1884.

Source: "Nelya Shtepa", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 25th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelya_Shtepa.

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Further Reading

Sloviansk

2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine

Donetsk People's Republic

Russian people's militias in Ukraine

Siege of Sloviansk

Igor Girkin

Vyacheslav Ponomarev (public figure)

Simon Ostrovsky

War in Donbas (2014–2022)

Battle of Kramatorsk

Humanitarian situation during the war in Donbas

Murder of Pentecostals in Sloviansk

Far-right politics in Ukraine

Halyna Yanchenko
References
  1. ^ "Insurgents Identified: The Green Men of VKontakte". Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Seventeen kilometers we marched across the border" (in Russian).
  3. ^ "Мэр Славянска празднует юбилей в Австрии (Sloviansk mayor celebrates birthday in Austria)". Donbass News (in Russian). 9 September 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  4. ^ Ivan Farion (11 July 2013). "Мер-хам може запросто закрити храм…". Vysokyy Zamok (in Ukrainian). Lviv. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Nelya Shtepa" (in Russian). Sloviansk City Council. April 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  6. ^ a b c "In Ukraine's east, mayor held hostage by insurgent". Yahoo News. Associated Press. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  7. ^ "Ukraine crisis: President vows to fight pro-Russia forces". BBC News. 13 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Ukrainian troops begin military operation to 'destroy foreign invader'". The Guardian. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Ukraine's prosecution of former Slovyansk mayor alarms rights groups". Al Jazeera America. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Ukraine: Abducted journalists and officials must be released". Amnesty International. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine: 1 December 2014 to 15 February 2015" (PDF). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2 March 2015. p. 18. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Sloviansk Ex-mayor Shtepa May Be Sentenced to Life in Prison – Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine". Censor.net. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Одиозную сепаратистку выпустили из СИЗО под крики Слава Украине!: опубликовано видео". Расследования (in Russian). Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Выпустили из СИЗО под крики Слава Украине! Одиозная сепаратистка исчезла". Расследования (in Russian). Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Неля Штепа: У меня появился настоящий мужчина, защитник". kp.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Центральна виборча комісія - Вибори народних депутатів України 2019".
  17. ^ CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections, Ukrinform (26 July 2019)
    (in Russian) Results of the extraordinary elections of the People's Deputies of Ukraine 2019, Ukrayinska Pravda (21 July 2019)
  18. ^ a b c "Штепа знову балотуватиметься в мери Слов'янська". 23 January 2020.
  19. ^ "European Rights Court Rules In Favor Of Ex-Slovyansk Mayor Accused Of Separatism In Ukraine". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  20. ^ https://m.tyzhden.ua/publication/248192
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