Student Who Threw Egg at Yanukovych Becomes Deputy Head of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Administration

Fifteen years ago, at a meeting with people in Ivano-Frankivsk, Viktor Yanukovych fell after an egg was thrown at him.

Dmytro Romaniuk, who threw an egg at Viktor Yanukovych in 2004, has become deputy head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration.

This was reported by Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Kryklii.

"Remember the video when an egg was thrown at Yanukovych? The person who dared to do that is him, now deputy chairman of the regional administration in Ivano-Frankivsk region. Very bright, smart and principled. I am sure we will hear about him as an effective manager, much more," — Kryklii said.

The incident occurred on September 23, 2004 in Ivano-Frankivsk. Romaniuk was a 17-year-old student of the Faculty of Economics at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, where then Prime Minister and presidential candidate of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych had come. However, as soon as he got off the bus, the politician suddenly fell for an unknown reason, after which he was taken away.

Information about a heart attack and even an assassination attempt was circulated. But as it later turned out, Yanukovych had only been hit with an egg, and it was Dmytro Romaniuk who did it.

In the following years, the young man received a legal and economic education, as well as a candidate of economic sciences degree, and in 2015 took the oath of a civil servant. Among other things, he headed the department of international cooperation, European integration and tourism infrastructure development of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration. In October 2019, the 32-year-old Romaniuk became deputy head of the regional administration.

He later described his act as almost accidental.

"At that moment I was supposed to have a pair, but the teacher was late. I learned that Yanukovych was coming to us. A spontaneous thought arose: why not try somehow to spoil the picture that was being imposed," — Romaniuk recalled.

As a result, he faced up to 4 years in prison under Part 2 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — hooliganism. However, after the Orange Revolution and the victory of Viktor Yushchenko in the elections, the case was closed.

In September 2019, Viktor Yanukovych's lawyer stated that he is preparing to return to Ukraine.