Anna Kovalenko

Kovalenko took part in protests on Euromaidan before the violent dispersal of students on 30 November 2013. She initially made hourly broadcasts for Radio Era, then took part in patrolling the Maidan and surrounding areas. She participated in the development of a plan to defend office buildings from the assault by security forces. She later became a deputy captain of the 11th Self-Defense Hundred. In mid-January 2014, she organized and led the 39th Maidan Women's Self-Defense Hundred. At the time of its creation, the hundred had more than 150 participants. At present, 39 hundred have been transformed into an all-Ukrainian public organization, "Women's Hundred", which has about two thousand members. Since March 2014, she was the chairman of the All-Ukrainian NGO "39th Maidan Self-Defense Hundred".

Kovalenko ran in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election as a self-nominated candidate in the 206th constituency (Chernihiv) as an independent.^[11] The CEC denied Kovalenko formal registration. And this denial had to be revoked through the courts of two instances. For this reason, Kovalenko has only two weeks left to campaign. Despite this, she received 9% of the vote (second place after local oligarch Vladyslav Atroshenko).

From 2014 to 2015, Kovalenko worked as an adviser to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and served as an adviser to the Minister of Information Policy.^[10] As an adviser to the Ministers of Defense, she set up a Center for Coordination of Operational Assistance to the Ukrainian Army, as well as a hotline (call center) for communication and coordination between checkpoints and volunteers. She organized numerous events to establish communication between the MoD staff, volunteers, the public and other government agencies. She participated in the development of reform programs of the Ministry of Defense and the organization of cooperation with NATO, the OSCE, the Canadian and Norwegian embassies.

As an adviser to the Minister of Information Policy, Kovalenko worked as a member of the commission for the restoration of television broadcasting in the anti-terrorist operation zone.

In the spring of 2015, she joined the team of the Anti-Corruption Movement, the creation of which was initiated by Valentyn Nalyvaichenko. She is one of the four coordinators of the Movement (together Nalyvaichenko, Yehor Firsov, and Serhii Nosenko). Since then, she was the coordinator of the NGO Anti-Corruption Movement of Ukraine.^[10]

Kovalenko led the project "Strategic Leadership: Security and Defense System of Ukraine" at the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School (KMBS). She worked as an expert at the George Kennan Institute, Wilson Center, in Washington, DC, United States.^[12]

Kovalenko was also a consultant to the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security. She was also an adviser to the Head of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine. She was a member of the club of the diplomatic representation of the NATO Liaison Office in Ukraine, "Women at the Head of Reforms". She was a member of the committee responsible for the restoration of television and radio broadcasting in the territory of the ATO.^[12]

Kovalenko was the candidate for People's Deputies from the Servant of the People party in the 2019 parliamentary elections, No. 35 on the list, as an independent, at the time of the election as she was the individual entrepreneur.^[13][14] She was elected as a member of parliament, but later resigned, becoming deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine instead.^[15]

She was member of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) Committee on Social Policy and Protection of Veterans' Rights.^[16][17]

As the head of the Women's Hundred NGO, she conducts public and political activities in the areas of gender and cultural policy, and is the coordinator of the Anti-Corruption Movement of Ukraine NGO.

On 13 October 2020, Kovalenko was appointed Governor of Chernihiv Oblast.^[18]

On 4 August 2021 President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Kovalenko from the post after she had tendered in her resignation on 28 July.^[1][19]

Kovalenko's husband, Ruslan Khomchak, is a Colonel-General who is a former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (March 2020 until July 2021).^[19][20][21]

In January 2021 Kovalenko gave birth to daughter Maria.^[19]