Natalia Fernandivna Kalmykova (Ukrainian: Наталія Фернандівна Калмикова; born 4 February 1982) is a Ukrainian politician serving as Minister of Veterans Affairs since 2024.[1] From 2023 to 2024, she served as Deputy Minister of Defense.[2] From 2018 to 2021, she served as manager of Come Back Alive.[3]
Natalia Kalmykova | |
|---|---|
Наталія Калмикова | |
.jpg) Kalmykova in 2024 | |
| Minister of Veterans Affairs | |
| Assumed office 5 September 2024 | |
| President | Volodymyr Zelenskyy |
| Prime Minister | Denys Shmyhal Yulia Svyrydenko |
| Preceded by | Oleksandr Porkhun (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 February 1982 |
| Party | Independent |
Early life
editKalmykova was born on 4 February 1982 in Vinnytsia, then part of the Ukrainian SSR.[4] Her father is Cuban and studied in the Soviet Union where he met her mother.[5] From 1999 to 2005, she studied at the National Pirogov Memorial Medical University.[2] In addition to her degree from the medical university, she also studied at MIM-Kyiv Business School and was a Fulbright scholar at the University at Buffalo.[2] During her time in the United States she also engaged in research at Syracuse University on female leadership in militaries.[2] She returned briefly to study starting in 2019 at the Vinnytsia Academy of Continuing Education, where she was awarded a Master of Public Administration.[6]
From 2005 to 2012, she worked as an intern at the Vinnytsia City Emergency Hospital.[6] In addition, from 2007 to 2008 she worked as a part-time medical consultant for Alcon Pharmaceuticals and from 2008 to 2012 she was a marketing consultant for Delta Medical.[6] She returned to Delta Medical from 2014 to 2017.[6]
Career
editIn 2021, she became gender adviser to the Commander of the Ground Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi.[6] In February 2022, she started serving as head of the Ukrainian Veterans Fund.[5]
From 2023 to 2024 she served as Deputy Minister of Defense.[2] She stated that as deputy minister, she helped create a simplified procedure for writing off military medical property, which helped provide the army with first-aid kits.[7]
References
edit- ↑ "Verkhovna Rada appoints Natalia Kalmykova Minister of Veterans Affairs". Ukrainian National News. 5 September 2024.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Natalia Kalmykova". Ministry for Veterans Affairs. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ↑ "Verkhovna Rada appoints Kalmykova as Minister of Veterans Affairs". Interfax-Ukraine. 5 September 2024.
- ↑ "Новим головою Мінветеранів може стати заступниця міністра оборони, - джерело". РБК-Украина (in Ukrainian). 4 September 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- 1 2 "«Для мене перемога — це не фініш, це — старт». Виконавча директорка Українського ветеранського фонду Наталія Калмикова". Elle (in Ukrainian). 15 November 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Волонтерка з кубинським корінням і радниця Сирського: біографія Наталії Калмикової". 24 Канал (in Ukrainian). 5 September 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ↑ Кліщук, Людмила (5 September 2024). "Калмикова відзвітувала про майже рік на посаді в МОУ: список змін". Novynarnia (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 17 April 2025.