Arsen Avakov

Arsen Borysovych Avakov (Арсен Борисович Аваков, ; born 2 January 1964, Baku, Kirov settlement, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR) is a Ukrainian statesman and politician of Armenian origin.

Was born on 2 January 1964 in Kirov settlement (now — Yeni Surahany), Baku in the family of a military.

He is of Armenian origin.

Since 1966 he has been permanently residing in Ukraine.

Citizen of Ukraine.

In 1988 he graduated from the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Automated Control Systems, qualification – systems engineer.

In 1990, he founded and headed JSC “Investor” (he was president until 2005).

In 1992 he founded the commercial bank “Basis”.

During the 2004 presidential campaign, he was deputy head of the Kharkiv headquarters of the presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko and the first deputy chairman of the Kharkiv regional “Committee of National Salvation”.

On 4 February 2005, by decree of the President of Ukraine, he was appointed to the position of Chairman of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration.

After his appointment, he resigned as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of JSC “Investor” and JSCB “Basis”.

Honored Economist of Ukraine (2007).

On 9 February 2010, two days after Viktor Yanukovych's victory in the presidential election, Avakov resigned from the post of Chairman of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration under Part 3 of Article 31 of the Law of Ukraine on Civil Service: “principled disagreement with the decision of a state body or official, as well as ethical obstacles to staying in public service”.

On 21 April 2010, he joined the “Batkivshchyna” political party and accepted the offer from Yulia Tymoshenko to head the regional organization of “Batkivshchyna”.

He is a member of the political council of the party.

In October 2010, he ran for the position of Kharkiv mayor, and together with a representative of CPU Alla Aleksandrovska was one of the main rivals of the acting mayor and the candidate from “Party of Regions” Hennadiy Kernes.

After processing 100 per cent of the protocols, Kernes became the winner (30.09% of the vote), and Arsen Avakov scored 29.46%.

The elections themselves and the vote-counting procedure were held in a scandalous atmosphere with numerous violations.

According to Freedom House, there is evidence that as a result of mass violations, the election result was changed in favour of Hennadiy Kernes.

Since the autumn of 2011, Avakov has been in Europe on the affairs of his own foundation, in particular, promoting the film “Armenian Heritage of Europe”.

Member of Parliament of Ukraine (2012–2014), Chairman of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration (2005–2010), Member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (2007–2008, 2014–2021), Member of Euro 2012 Organizing Committee (2007).

Member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.

Until December 2012, he was in political exile in Italy due to criminal prosecution in Ukraine.

According to the results of the autumn parliamentary elections of 2012, he was elected a Member of the Parliament of Ukraine on the lists of the united opposition “Batkivshchyna” Party.

During the Revolution of Dignity, he was one of the commandants of Euromaidan, and dealt with the infrastructure of the protest camp: barricades, a tent city, and food supplies.

Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in 2014–2021.

On 21 February 2014, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appointed Arsen Avakov as Acting Minister, and on 27 February it approved Arsen Avakov as Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Immediately after his appointment, Arsen Avakov stated that the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for the first time in the history of Ukraine will include representatives of the “Right Sector” and the Maidan Self-Defense.

Following the results of 100 days of work as a minister, among his main achievements, Avakov mentioned the prevention of a separatist scenario in Kharkiv; the restoration of the National Guard; and the successful work of the police during the 2014 presidential election.

On the night of 7 April 2014, Avakov personally led the assault operation on the building of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, which had been seized by separatists and militants who came from Belgorod the day before.

The assault was carried out as part of the anti-terrorist operation in Kharkiv and the Kharkiv Oblast.

"In Kharkiv on 6 April, well-managed groups of supporters of the "Russian world", specially trained by militants and managed by specialists from Russia, surrounded the building of the regional state administration and the adjacent quarter. They appointed some "alternative members" of the regional council from the crowd, held an "alternative session" right on the steps of the Regional State Administration, and proclaimed the "Kharkiv People's Republic". On the afternoon of April 7, "peacefully protesting citizens" wounded a cadet from the law enforcement lines, a boy at all. They shoved a grenade behind his bulletproof vest, which exploded. The flash-bang grenade turned half of his lungs. The cadet was saved by doctors ... And it all accumulated, accumulated, the city center boiled like a kettle ... On 7 April, I arrived in Kharkiv, clearly realizing that the next couple of days would be decisive and I needed to concentrate all my strength and will.

Stabilization in Kharkiv was vital, critically necessary for the whole of Ukraine."

- Arsen Avakov

The special operation to liberate the Kharkiv Regional State Administration was carried out by the special forces unit “Jaguar” (from Vinnytsia city) of the  Ministry of Internal Affairs under the direct supervision of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov and the operational management of the commander of the National Guard of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak.

The special operation was carried out entirely within the framework of legislative norms: the day before, a decree was signed by Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov “On conducting an anti-terrorist operation on the territory of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv Oblast”.

On the basis of the Decree, a corresponding order was issued to conduct a special operation by the regional department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), since anti-terrorist activities are the area of responsibility of the SSU.

Before the start of the assault, the Kharkiv metro was stopped, and the city center was cordoned off by local police and cadets of the National Guard Military Academy of Ukraine and the University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The invaders were warned over the loudspeaker about the start of the operation and their rights were read out.

The operation in the building of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration lasted 17 minutes.