he resigned on 27 May 1996. Later political career Marchuk and Kravchuk became members of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) before the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election. From April to December 1998, Marchuk was the leader of the party, and from July 1998 Marchuk also headed a parliamentary committee in Social Policy and Labor. When the SDPU(o) refused to back Marchuk in the 1999 Ukrainian presidential election, he left to create his own Social Democratic Union. He ran as an independent in the 1999 presidential election, coming in fifth place with 8.13% of the vote in the first round of the elections, and was appointed secretary of the National Security and Defense Council by the re-elected President Leonid Kuchma. Marchuk was secretary of the National Security and Defense Council from 10 November 1999 until 25 June 2003. Until June 2009, he stayed on as chairperson of the council's interagency commission on information policy. Later, he was the Defense Minister of Ukraine from June 2003 to September 2004. Marchuk strongly supported the launching of Ukrayinska Pravda by Georgiy Gongadze. Marchuk was pivotal in having Leonid Derkach fired in 2001, following the Cassette Scandal. During the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Marchuk led the Electoral Bloc of Yevhen Marchuk and Unity of Oleksandr Omelchenko, which included his own party, the Party of Freedom. The Electoral Bloc not make it into the Verkhovna Rada, winning only 0.06% of the votes. Later life and death In May 2008, Marchuk was appointed one of the personal advisors to President Viktor Yushchenko. In June 2015, he was appointed by President Poroshenko a Ukrainian special representative in one of the subgroups of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine. Marchuk again represented Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group from November 2018 to May 2019. Death Marchuk died on 5 August 2021, aged 80. According to a report by the Security Service of Ukraine, he died from acute pulmonary heart failure that was exacerbated by a COVID-19 infection. References 1941 births 2021 deaths People from Kirovohrad Oblast Prime Ministers of Ukraine KGB officers Directors of the Security Service of Ukraine Defence ministers of Ukraine Unity (Ukraine) politicians Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Third convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) politicians Social Democratic Union (Ukraine) politicians Generals of the Army (Ukraine) Candidates in the 1999 Ukrainian presidential election Commanders with Star of