News > Ukraine's First Post-Soviet President Leonid Kravchuk Dies At 88

Ukraine's First Post-Soviet President Leonid Kravchuk Dies At 88

Leonid Kravchuk, a former communist who helped signed the Soviet Union's death warrant and then served as the first president of independent Ukraine, has died at the age of 88, a senior official said on Tuesday. 

Kravchuk became known as the "wily fox" as he rose through the ranks of Ukraine's communist party, taking over as head of the parliament in what was then a Soviet republic in 1990.