Leonid Kozhara

Leonid Kozhara
Леонід Кожара
Kozhara in 2013
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 24 December 2012 – 23 February 2014
President	Viktor Yanukovych
Prime Minister	Mykola Azarov
Preceded by	Kostyantyn Gryshchenko
Succeeded by	Andrii Deshchytsia (acting)
Ukrainian Ambassador to Sweden
In office 14 November 2002 – 6 July 2004
President	Leonid Kuchma
Preceded by	Oleksandr Slipchenko
Succeeded by	Oleksandr Danyleiko
Personal details
Born	(1963-01-14) 14 January 1963 (age 61) Poltava, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party	Party of Regions (until 2014) No party (2014-2015) “Socialists”(2015-2022)
Alma mater	Kyiv University
Occupation	Jurist

Leonid Oleksandrovych Kozhara (Ukrainian: Леонід Олександрович Кожара, Russian: Леонид Александрович Кожара, born 14 January 1963) is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. In 2013 he was the OSCE's (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) Chairperson-in-Office, during the Ukrainian presidency of the OSCE.

After the Revolution of Dignity, Kozhara was not charged for his role in the Yanukovych presidency, owing largely due to his dismissal by parliamentary vote shortly before Yanukovych fled to Russia. Kozhara would then join the newly-established pro-Russian party “Socialists”. However, on 25 March 2020 Kozhara was arrested by security forces on charges of murdering advertising mogul Serhiy Starytsky on 21 February 2020,^[1] and on 23rd September 2022, the party “Socialists” was banned by Ukraine.^[2]