Mykhailo Bondar

Mykhailo Leontiyovych Bondar was born on 17 November 1973 in the village of Bodyachiv, in Lviv Oblast of what was then the Soviet Union. From 1992 to 1994, he served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. From 1997 to 1998, he served as accounting in the Zhvyrka village council, before working in accounting in the Sokal Raion telecommunications unit of Lviv ODPEZ Ukrtelekom. In 1999, he worked in the Sokal Raion section of the Lviv chapter of the company Gas Ukraine.[1]

From 1997 to 2006, Bondar studied at University of Lviv, graduating with a specialisation in Finance, Economics, and Entrepreneurship.[1]

Bondar was an active supporter of Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, participating in the Maidan Self-Defence. Following the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Bondar volunteered to join the National Guard of Ukraine. He participated in the Battle of Debaltseve and the Siege of Sloviansk, being wounded at the latter.[2] He was commander of the Kulchytsky Battalion.[3]

Bondar participated in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election as the candidate of the People's Front as People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 119th electoral district. He won the elections with 26.36% of the vote; incumbent People's Deputy Iryna Sekh of Svoboda won only 13.60%, placing fourth.[4] Following his election, Bondar sat as an independent, and was head of the coal subcommittee of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Fuel-Energy Complex, Nuclear Policy, and Nuclear Security.[3]

Bondar was re-elected in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, this time as the candidate of European Solidarity. He won with a margin of 139 votes above the next-closest candidate, Orest Kavetskyi of Servant of the People.[5] He is a member of the European Solidarity faction in the Verkhovna Rada, as well as the Committee on Energy and Housing-Communal Services.[3]