Leonid Kravchuk, the first president of independent Ukraine, has died

Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, confirmed Kravchuk's death on the Telegram app without giving details of the circumstances.

Leonid Kravchuk, who led Ukraine to independence when the Soviet Union collapsed and was its first president, has died, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday. He was 88 years.

Kravchuk led Ukraine as head of the Communist Party in the final years of the Soviet Union and played a central role in the demise of the USSR before serving as Ukrainian president from 1991 to 1994.