Education activist Oksana Kondratiuk and her husband are murdered in Lviv (10/25/98)

Education activist Oksana Kondratiuk and her husband are murdered in Lviv

by Vera Eliashevsky

CHICAGO - Friends and acquaintances in Ukraine and abroad are deeply saddened by the tragic and untimely death of Oksana Kondratiuk and her husband, Roman Melnyk, on October 1 in Lviv. The two were shot while in their car.

Ms. Kondratiuk was the director of the International Center of Education, Science and Culture (ICESC) under the Ministry of Education in Ukraine. She held this position since the center's establishment in 1992. Prior to that Ms. Kondratiuk was the inspector of the National Educational Board, covering educational institutes in the Lviv region, including special schools for disabled and sick children.

As director of the ICESC, Ms. Kondratiuk was responsible for promoting the development of educational, cultural and scientific links in Ukraine with other countries. Her proficiency in the English language enabled her to participate in numerous international conferences, seminars and roundtables relating to the problems of educational development, methodology and theories.

In the fall of 1997 Ms. Kondratiuk was very honored and privileged to have met with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton during her visit to Lviv.

One of Ms. Kondratiuk's final international initiatives was organizing a multi-faceted cultural program in Lviv known as "Vienna Days" on September 8-12. The program was held in connection with the official re-opening of the Vienna Café in Lviv. During the remodeling of the building in which the ICESC is located, historical archives revealed the existence of a popular meeting spot for Ukraine's intelligentsia up until 1939 - The Vienna Coffee House. It was Ms. Kondradiuk's international contacts that led to the re-opening of this joint Austrian/Ukrainian initiative.

Surviving are Ms. Kondratiuk's sons, Taras and Yarema.

The murder of Mrs. Kondratiuk and Mr. Melnyk was reported in the October 3 issue of Postup, a daily newspaper published in Lviv. The story noted that an investigation into the crime had begun.

According to Postup, several hundred meters from the murder scene, police noticed a suspicious man. Seeing the police, the man began to flee, then stopped abruptly, took out a pistol and shot himself.

The man was identified as Volodymyr Yemelianov, born in 1956, and the pistol in his possession was identified as the murder weapon. Citing unidentified sources, Postup reported that Ms. Kondratiuk had just purchased an apartment from Mr. Yemelianov.

At the time of the murder, Mr. Yemelianov's sister was in the car with Ms. Kondratiuk and Mr. Melnyk. She escaped from the automobile, ran to phone and called a friend, who then notified police about the shooting.

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