The Tourism Times | Breaking tourism-related news from Nepal and beyond
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Climbing
Ukrainian couple, Finnish woman scale Thorong Peak for Dhaulagiri attempt
By
Tourism Times
Published at : 16 Sep 2026, 2:11 PM
KATHMANDU: Former Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine Igor Kushnir and his Cypriot wife, Oksana Kushnir, scaled Thorong Peak (6,150 m) in western Nepal today, as the billionaire couple aims to climb Mount Dhaulagiri this autumn.
The politician-turned-business tycoon, who held a powerful position during Viktor Yanukovych’s regime, and his wife want to become the first Ukrainian couple to scale Dhaulagiri. They scaled Thorong Peak as part of their acclimatization climb, officials said.
Igor and Oksana were part of the 14 Peaks Expeditions team, along with Georgi Emilov Kolevichin, a legal expert with Bulgaria’s Ministry of Tourism, and record-holding Finnish climber Anni Katri Penttilä. They all reached the summit of Thorong Peak as preparation for Mount Dhaulagiri.
The team was guided by renowned climber Lakpa Sherpa, also known as Makalu Lakpa; Lhakpa Sange Sherpa; Ong Dorchi Sherpa; and Fura Jangbu Sherpa.
Igor served as Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine for two years from 2010. His wife, Oksana, a Cypriot national of Ukrainian origin, is the sole ultimate beneficiary of Baltijos Gildija, one of the largest real estate companies. The couple has scaled Mount Everest and other mountains in the past.
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