Sergei Aksyonov

Sergey Valeryevich Aksyonov (born 26 November 1972) is a Russian politician serving as the head of the Republic of Crimea since 9 October 2014.

Biography Sergey Aksyonov was born in Bălți in the Moldavian SSR on 26 November 1972. His father Valery Aksyonov was a Red Army officer and the founder and leader of a group called the Russian Community of Northern Moldova in Bălți. After founding the group at the end of the 1980s, the tensions between Russians and Moldavians soon broke out into a war. The Russian army supported Transnistrian paramilitary troops. Transnistria became de facto independent from Moldova in 1992.

From 1993 to 1998, he was deputy director of a company named Ellada, a business related to food products. "Aksyonov reportedly used to work side-by-side with another gang member, Serhiy Voronkov, in the early 1990s. According to Kyiv Post, Voronkov is a well-known mafia boss who was released from prison in 2008 and is still doing business in Crimea," said Andrei Yanitskiy, a journalist of Livy Bereh newspaper who investigated Aksyonov. Yanitskiy alleges that Aksyonov is still a member of the Salem gang. Andriy Senchenko, a Crimean member of Verkhovna Rada from the Batkivshchyna party, alleged that Aksyonov was involved in these activities together with Supreme Council Chairman Vladimir Konstantinov. Senchenko alleges that "there were reports that he participated in the contract killing of (Volodymyr) Tykhonchuk [in 2004], then head of Crimean State Securities Commission, and before that in the killing of head of State Property Fund (Oleksiy) Golovizin [in 1997]." Already having well documented links to organized crime, since 5 March 2014, he has been wanted by the Security Service of Ukraine after being charged under Part 1 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("Actions aimed at the violent overthrow, change of constitutional order, or the seizure of state power").

Political career Aksyonov was granted Russian citizenship as a resident of Moldova on 10 January 2003.

In 2008, he became a member of the "Russian Community of Crimea" ("Русская община Крыма") and a member of public organisation "Civic Asset of Crimea" ("Гражданский актив Крыма").

Mykola Kirilchuk, a former Crimean Minister of Industry, stated that in 2008–2009 Aksyonov borrowed almost $5 million from him to develop the Russian Unity party. Kirilchuk has since fled Crimea and has been trying to get his money back though the court system.

During a talk show on the TV channel ATR on 3 March 2012, Aksyonov commented about a possible accession of Crimea to Russia: "I think the time for this process has already passed. Today we live in Ukraine. I have a Ukrainian passport, Ukrainian citizenship, so all problems should be discussed only in friendly relations between our countries".

Head of Crimea

From left to right, Sergey Aksyonov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Vladimir Putin, and Aleksei Chaly sign the Treaty on Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia.

Following the Revolution of Dignity, on 27 February an emergency session was held in the Crimean legislature while it was occupied by Russian forces without insignias. Various media accounts have disputed whether he was able to gather a quorum of 50 of his peers before the session convened that day, and some Crimean legislators who were registered as present have said they did not come near the building.

Under the Ukrainian constitution, the Prime Minister of Crimea is appointed by the autonomous republic's parliament following consultations with the President of Ukraine. The Director of the Information Analysis department of the legislature's secretariat, Olha Sulnikova, has stated that an agreement exists with ousted president Viktor Yanukovych. The interim President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, decreed the appointment of Aksyonov as the head of the government of Crimea to be unconstitutional.

On 5 March 2014, the Shevchenko district court of Kyiv issued a warrant for Aksyonov and Vladimir Konstantinov's arrest, and the Security Service of Ukraine was charged to bring them to court. sanction lists; his assets in these countries were frozen, and Aksyonov was banned from entering these countries.

In the 2014 Crimean parliamentary election, Aksyonov ran as a candidate for United Russia because, according to himself, "The Popular Front" had delegated him to the United Russia party list.

Sergey Aksyonov was re-elected after the 2019 Crimean parliamentary election. But, during his second term, he refused to combine the positions of Head of the Republic and Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister was appointed Yury Gotsanyuk. Sergey Aksyonov at the 2019 New Wave Junior international contest for young pop music performers that was held in Artek.

Domestic policy Aksyonov has promised that Ukrainian would cease to be an official language if Crimea joined Russia. "We use two languages on a daily basis – Russian and Crimean Tatar," Aksyonov said. "It's certain that the republic [of Crimea] will have two languages." Aksyonov's main goals for the immediate future of Crimea is to "use the funds, allocated for construction of infrastructures, for healthcare, energy and so on." Aksyonov has also pushed for the Crimean Bridge to be completed by 2018.

Crimean Tatar minority

Sergey Aksyonov has led efforts to stamp out dissent among ethnic Crimean Tatars over the annexation, saying "All activities aimed at non-recognition of Crimea's joining to Russia and non-recognition of the leadership of the country will face prosecution under the law and we will take a very tough stance on this."

Homosexuals Aksyonov says homosexuals "have no chance" in Crimea, and that "we in Crimea do not need such people." He also promised that if gays tried to hold public gatherings, "our police and self-defense forces will react immediately and in three minutes will explain to them what kind of sexual orientation they should stick to."

PMC "Convoy" After the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Aksyonov created a private military company named Convoy. As of 2023, it was operating in Kherson Oblast.

Family His father, Valery Nikolayevich Aksyonov (born 1949), worked as a radio equipment technician at the Lenin Factory in Bălți, Moldova, later becoming a foreman and workshop manager. He is the general director of Panel Systems LLC (Simferopol). Since September 2014, he has served as a deputy of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea.

He has been married for over 25 years. His wife, Elena Alexandrovna Aksyonova (née Dobrynya), graduated from an agricultural academy with a degree in economics and works as an entrepreneur.

His daughter, Kristina (born 1994), is an entrepreneur. His son, Oleg, was born in 1997.