Former Ukrainian President Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk has died, he was the first elected president for the country, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday. The cause of his death unrevealed till now. Kravchuk was elected to be the president after Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, as he served until 1994. Kravchuk had a decorated career in Ukraine's politics, first helping push for its independence from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Then, he helped dissolve the USSR as a whole. Also, he had a noticeable role in the signed agreement of dissolving the Soviet Union on Dec. 8, 1991. Ukraine's current president Volodymyr Zelenskyy recognized Kravchuk's importance to the country's history, describing him "a man who knew how to find wise words and to say them so that all Ukrainians would hear them." "This is especially important in difficult, crisis moments. When the future of an entire country may depend on the wisdom of one person," Zelenskyy added. He also said the former leader "knew the price of freedom and with all his heart wanted peace for Ukraine. I am sure that we will accomplish this. We will achieve our victory and our peace." Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted his deeply condolence for Kravchuk death, also he described Kravchuk as an integral in seeing the end to the Soviet Union, which he called "the Evil Empire." Leonid Kravchuk, the 1st President of Ukraine & the first Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the #UAarmy, has passed away. With his signature, the Evil Empire disintegrated. Thank you for the peaceful renewal of our Independence. We're defending it now with weapons in our hands.R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/WZ8p0z1MdL — Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) May 10, 2022
