The first deputy prime minister of the Ukrainian government, Ihor Yukhnovskyi, dies

L'viv, Ukraine (Svidomi) — Ukraine's first Deputy Prime Minister, Ihor Yukhnovskyi, died, Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi informs. 

Academician Ihor Yukhnovskyi, Hero of Ukraine, the founder and Director of the Institute of National Memory (2006–2010), the Honorary Director of the Institute for Condensed Matter Physics of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor Honoris Causa in Lviv Polytechnic, and a member of the first four convocations of the Ukrainian government. He became the first Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine.

He is the author of the idea of the referendum of December 1, 1991, which cemented the will of Ukrainians to become independent.

"Ukraine became a state in 1991. It became a state subject to every letter of the old Constitution of 1976 and in compliance with the procedure... we exercised our constitutional right to do so. Therefore, it is impossible to destroy the Ukrainian state. We may be in different situations, but no one can take the state away from us now," Ihor Yukhnovskyi said in an interview with Ukrinform.

Ihor Yukhnovskyi received numerous awards for the development of the Ukrainian state and his contribution to its national revival. Among his awards are the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise III, IV, and V degrees, the Order of Freedom, and the title of Hero of Ukraine.

Funeral announcements will be released later.