Iryna Verihina

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Iryna Verihina (born 4 June 1968) is a Ukrainian politician and journalist. She served as acting Governor of Luhansk Oblast from May 10 to September 15, 2014, during a period when parts of the region were controlled by separatists. She is a member of the Batkivshchyna party and led the Luhansk regional organization since 2010. She is also a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.

Early life and education
Verihina was born in Oleksandrivka, Ukrainian SSR. She studied history at the Khabarovsk Pedagogical Institute, graduating in 1991 as a teacher of history and social studies. She moved around in the Far East region before returning to the Luhansk area and settling in Krasnyi Luch in 1995.

Career before politics
She worked as a television journalist and deputy editor at Luch TV and Radio until 2005. She later held various public-facing roles, including assistant to Batkivshchyna politicians and public relations positions.

Political career
In 2010 she became the chairman of the Luhansk regional organization of Batkivshchyna. She was appointed first deputy head of the Luhansk Oblast State Administration in March 2014 and then became acting governor on May 10, 2014. Verihina publicly condemned Russian military aggression in Luhansk and Donetsk.

Later years
She was dismissed from her post on September 15, 2014. In the October 2014 parliamentary elections, she appeared on Batkivshchyna’s party list but did not win a seat. After leaving office, she joined the All-Ukrainian Movement “Power of Law,” helping victims of the conflict and criticizing the Minsk agreements. She ran for the Verkhovna Rada in 2019 on the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc list but did not win.