Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories explained

Agency Name:Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories
Native Name:Ukrainian: Міністерство з питань реінтеграції тимчасово окупованих територій України
Type:Department
Seal:Logo of the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine.svg
Formed:20 April 2016[1]
Jurisdiction:Government of Ukraine
Headquarters:Kyiv, Ukraine
Website:minre.gov.ua

The Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories (Ukrainian: Міністерство з питань реінтеграції тимчасово окупованих територій України|Ministerstvo z pytanʹ reintehratsiyi tymchasovo okupovanykh terytoriy Ukrayiny) is a government ministry in Ukraine officially established on 20 April 2016[2] to manage occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea regions affected by the Russian military intervention of 2014. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry also managed the newly-occupied territories across Ukraine, especially Kherson and Zaporizhzhia which were annexed by Russia along with Donetsk and Luhansk.

The Honcharuk Government in August 2019 merged the Ministry for Veterans Affairs into the ministry. But its succeeding Shmyhal Government reversed this merger in March 2020.

History

Vadym Chernysh was on 14 April 2016 [3] appointed as the first Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs in the Groysman government.[3] On 20 April 2016 his ministry was created by merging the State Agency for restoration of Donbas (formerly part of Ministry of Regional Development) and the State Service for Russian annexed Crimea and Sevastopol (formerly under direct administration of the Cabinet of Ukraine).[1] Chernysh is the former head of the State Agency for restoration of Donbas.

The ministry tries to "search for solutions and reintegration strategies" for Ukraine to regain control Crimea and parts of the historical region Donbas.[4] Ukraine lost control over Crimea, which was unilaterally annexed by Russia in March 2014.[5] In the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian protests escalated into an armed separatist insurgency early in April 2014, when masked gunmen took control of several of the region's government buildings and towns.[6] This led to the creation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.[7] Violence between the Ukrainian army and the forces of the two breakaway republics escalated into an armed conflict known as the Russo-Ukrainian War.[8] [9] The war in Donbas led to 1.6 million people becoming internally displaced persons, according to the registry of the Ukrainian government. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported in March 2016 that 800,000 to 1 million of them lived within Ukrainian government controlled Ukraine.[10]

The Honcharuk Government (on 29 August 2019) merged the Ministry for Veterans Affairs into the ministry degrading the first to an agency as it previously existed.[11] On 23 January 2020 then Minister Oksana Koliada stated that the Ministry would likely be split up again into a separate Ministry for Veterans Affairs with the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs to be renamed "Ministry of Reintegration".[12] Indeed, on 4 March 2020 the new Shmyhal Government undid the merge of the two ministries.[13]

List of ministers

Heads of predecessor government agencies of the ministry

State Agency for restoration of Donbas

Name of ministerTerm of office
StartEnd
Andriy Nikolayenko22 September 201414 October 2014
Vadym Chernysh26 June 201520 April 2016

State Service on issues of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol city

Name of ministerTerm of office
StartEnd
Aslan Ömer Kırımlı14 May 201519 August 2015
Nariman Ustayev20 August 201520 April 2016

List of ministers of the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories [and IDPs]

Name of ministryName of ministerTerm of officePhoto
StartEnd
Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPsVadym Chernysh20 April 2016[14] 29 August 2019
Temporarily Occupied Territories, IDPs and veteransOksana Koliada29 August 20194 March 2020
Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied TerritoriesOleksii Reznikov4 March 20203 November 2021[15]
Iryna Vereshchuk4 November 2021[16] present

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. The Cabinet decided to create the Ministry of temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons, Ukrayinska Pravda (20 April 2016)
  2. The Cabinet decided to create the Ministry of temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons, Ukrayinska Pravda (20 April 2016)
  3. http://www.unian.info/politics/1319232-new-cabinet-formed-in-ukraine.html New Cabinet formed in Ukraine
  4. Vadim Chernish, Minister of temporarily occupied territories and IDPs: "The State shall clearly outline the position on the occupied territories and the people who were there", Zerkalo Nedeli (15 April 2016)
  5. http://eeas.europa.eu/statements/docs/2014/140417_03_en.pdf EU & Ukraine 17 April 2014 FACT SHEET
  6. http://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-horlivka-idINKBN0DG0FY20140430 Masked gunmen tighten grip on eastern Ukraine
  7. http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/206079.html Eighteen of thirty-four district election commissions in Donetsk and Luhansk regions captured – CEC
  8. News: Armed pro-Russian insurgents in Luhansk say they are ready for police raid . Kyiv Post . 12 April 2014 . Grytsenko . Oksana.
  9. News: Ukraine to deploy troops to quash pro-Russian insurgency in the east . https://web.archive.org/web/20140414125950/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ukraine-special-forces-sent-eastern-city-retake-buildings-082049113.html . 14 April 2014 . Yahoo News Canada . 14 April 2014 . Associated Press . Leonard . Peter . 26 October 2014.
  10. http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/328981.html Over 3 mln people live in conflict zone in Ukraine's east – UN report
  11. https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/08/29/7224810/ New Cabinet formed in Ukraine The Rada appointed the new Cabinet: Avakov and Markarova remained (РАДА ПРИЗНАЧИЛА НОВИЙ КАБМІН: АВАКОВ І МАРКАРОВА ЛИШИЛИСЬ)
  12. Two ministries will be in charge of Donbas: they will divide the Ministry of Veterans, Ukrayinska Pravda (23 January 2020)
  13. Web site: Ukraine's new Cabinet of Ministers.
  14. Cabinet of Ukraine approved creation of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs. Radio Liberty. 20 April 2016
  15. https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3344183-parliament-sacks-deputy-prime-minister-reznikov.html Parliament sacks Deputy Prime Minister Reznikov
  16. Web site: Vereshchuk appointed Ukraine's deputy prime minister. 2021-12-02. www.ukrinform.net. en.