Mykola Karpyuk

Mykola Andronovych Karpyuk was born on 21 May 1964 in Velykyi Zhytyn, Rivne Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. After secondary education he worked as a lathe operator at the Rivne Gazatron plant. He completed compulsory Soviet military service from 1982 to 1984, then returned to Rivne and worked as a turner at the local flax combine (1984-1985), a tractor-parts plant (1985-1986), and Gazatron again (1986-1990). He also worked as a journalist for the newspaper Nasha Sprava. In 1989 he joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Union. From 1990 he headed the Rivne regional organization of the Union of Independent Ukrainian Youth.

He chaired the Rivne cell of the Ukrainian National Assembly, fought in Transnistria (1992) and Abkhazia (1993), ran for parliament in 1998 and 2002, and was elected UNA-UNSO chairman in November 2001. Imprisoned for Ukraine without Kuchma protests, he was released in 2004 and later joined Right Sector during Euromaidan.

Between 2014 and 2019 Karpyuk was held in Russian facilities, including transfer to Vladimir Central after sentencing. Ukrainian officials and human rights advocates campaigned for his release alongside other political prisoners. On 7 September 2019 he was freed in a 35-for-35 Russia-Ukraine prisoner exchange that also included sailors and high-profile prisoners such as Oleg Sentsov. He landed in Kyiv to a public welcome with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and relatives.

After 2019 Karpyuk resumed civic and political work in Ukraine and worked for a period in connection with the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. He gave interviews about captivity, UNA-UNSO history, and the war. After Russia's full-scale invasion he served again as a Ukrainian soldier. Friends recalled speaking with him only weeks before his death about documenting UNSO history and plans for the autumn.

Mykola Karpyuk was killed in action on 19 September 2026 at age 62. Former SBU deputy head Viktor Yahun and former MP Artur Palatnyi were among those who first reported his death. Several outlets stated that he fell while carrying out a combat mission in the Zaporizhzhia direction. Detailed official circumstances were not immediately published. He was survived by his wife Olena and son Taras.

Karpyuk completed secondary schooling in Rivne Oblast and entered adult life as an industrial worker rather than through a university career track. His early public identity was shaped by factory labour, Soviet army service, local journalism, and the late-Soviet Ukrainian national-democratic milieu of the Helsinki Union and independent youth organizations in Rivne.

On 19 August 1991 Karpyuk formed and commanded the first Ukrainian People's Self-Defence detachment in Rivne. He chaired the Rivne cell of the Ukrainian National Assembly and helped build UNA-UNSO as both a political and volunteer-defence structure. In 1992 he took part in the Transnistria conflict and later served as chief of staff of UNSO there. In 1993 he commanded the UNSO Argo corps in Abkhazia on the Georgian side. He registered a Rivne regional UNA party organization in 1997 and stood for parliament on UNA-UNSO lists in 1998 and 2002 without the party entering the Verkhovna Rada. After an internal split he was elected UNA-UNSO chairman in November 2001. He took part in Ukraine without Kuchma, was imprisoned, and was released in 2004. He led UNSO units during the Orange Revolution and in 2005 received the Order For Courage, third class. During Euromaidan he joined Right Sector and afterward became deputy head of its political block.

Karpyuk was married to Olena. They had a son, Taras. Family members were among those who met him when he returned to Ukraine in the September 2019 prisoner exchange. Friends' tributes after his death in 2026 offered condolences to his wife and son. He remained closely associated with Rivne Oblast throughout his life.

Karpyuk's public life was framed by Ukrainian national independence, volunteer self-defence, and opposition to authoritarian power in Kyiv and later to Russian aggression. Colleagues described him as direct, principled, and uninterested in personal enrichment or status. After captivity he spoke about torture in Russian detention and about the duty to defend Ukraine. Friends said that even after age 60 he treated service at the front as continuity with a lifelong choice rather than as optional activism.

In March 2014 Karpyuk was detained on the Russian-Ukrainian border. Russian authorities charged him and Stanislav Klykh with crimes allegedly committed during the First Chechen War, including leadership of a unit called Viking. Both men denied ever having been in Chechnya for those purposes. In May 2016 a Chechen court sentenced Karpyuk to 22.5 years. Memorial called him a political prisoner. Amnesty International condemned the proceedings as unfair. Karpyuk alleged torture and threats against his family, and said he was forced to incriminate himself and others. His lawyers reported long periods without consular or counsel access. The case became a landmark example of Ukrainian hostages held in Russia after 2014.

Georgia awarded Karpyuk the Order of Vakhtang Gorgasali, third class, for service with the UNSO Argo corps in Abkhazia. In 2005 Ukraine awarded him the Order For Courage, third class. Memorial's recognition of him as a political prisoner and international human-rights advocacy around his case formed part of his later public standing.

After his 2019 release Karpyuk appeared in Ukrainian television and documentary interviews describing captivity, torture allegations, UNA-UNSO, and the defence of Ukraine. Outlets including 24 Channel, BABYLON'13, and other Ukrainian media recorded long-form conversations with him. His death in September 2026 was widely reported by Ukrainska Pravda, Hromadske Radio, Suspilne Rivne, and regional Rivne media.

Karpyuk is remembered as a co-founder of UNA-UNSO, a Euromaidan-era Right Sector political figure, a symbol of Ukrainians held as political prisoners in Russia, and a volunteer who returned to combat after captivity. Tributes from Viktor Yahun, Artur Palatnyi, Yurii Honcharenko, and others emphasized lifelong fidelity to Ukraine over careerism. His life spanned the late Soviet national movement, post-independence volunteer expeditions, street protest, Russian imprisonment, and the full-scale war.