Nelya Shtepa
Nelya Shtepa | |
---|---|
Неля Штепа | |
Mayor of Sloviansk | |
In office 31 October 2010 – 9 July 2014 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Ukrainian SSR | 13 September 1960
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.
Life
She was born as Nelya Ihorivna Lytvyn (
Mayor of Sloviansk during Siege of Sloviansk
Amidst
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 seen in public again until Victory Day, when she appeared on stage in the city centre, looking well, giving a strongly pro-Russian speech, urging citizens of Sloviansk to vote in the upcoming referendum. [11]
After Siege of Sloviansk
After her appearance on May 9th, Shtepa was not seen in public again until 5 July 2014, when Ukrainian forces retook Sloviansk.
Release and Subsequent Political Career
Shtepa was released from prison on 20 September 2017, and placed under house arrest.[14] A few weeks later, she was said to have "disappeared".[15] As of mid of 2018, she was known to visit her doctor for intravenous therapy due to heart attack.[16]
Shtepa was a candidate on the national list for the Opposition Platform — For Life party in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[17] In this election the party won 37 seats on the nationwide party list (and 6 constituency seats), but Shtepa was not elected.[18]
On 24 October 2019, the
In January 2020, Shtepa announced that she intended to run for election to become mayor of Sloviansk in the
References
- ^ "Insurgents Identified: The Green Men of VKontakte". Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "Seventeen kilometers we marched across the border" (in Russian).
- ^ "Мэр Славянска празднует юбилей в Австрии (Sloviansk mayor celebrates birthday in Austria)". Donbass News (in Russian). 9 September 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ Ivan Farion (11 July 2013). "Мер-хам може запросто закрити храм…". Vysokyy Zamok (in Ukrainian). Lviv. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ a b "Nelya Shtepa" (in Russian). Sloviansk City Council. April 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
- ^ a b c "In Ukraine's east, mayor held hostage by insurgent". Yahoo News. Associated Press. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
- ^ "Ukraine crisis: President vows to fight pro-Russia forces". BBC News. 13 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
- ^ "Ukrainian troops begin military operation to 'destroy foreign invader'". The Guardian. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Ukraine: Abducted journalists and officials must be released". Amnesty International. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
- ^ "На Параде в Славянске выступила Штепа и Губарев" [At the Parade in Slavyansk, Shtepa and Gubarev gave sppeches] (in Russian). 9 May 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Одиозную сепаратистку выпустили из СИЗО под крики Слава Украине!: опубликовано видео". Расследования (in Russian). Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ "Выпустили из СИЗО под крики Слава Украине! Одиозная сепаратистка исчезла". Расследования (in Russian). Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ "Неля Штепа: У меня появился настоящий мужчина, защитник". kp.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ "Центральна виборча комісія - Вибори народних депутатів України 2019".
- Ukrayinska Pravda(21 July 2019)
- ^ a b c "Штепа знову балотуватиметься в мери Слов'янська". 23 January 2020.
- ^ "European Rights Court Rules In Favor Of Ex-Slovyansk Mayor Accused Of Separatism In Ukraine". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ Publication tyzhden.ua[dead link]
External links
- Who is Nelya Shtepa? Donetskaya Pravda. 1 March 2013.