[6] During his studies at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Kyrylenko was one of the initiators a political student strike at the October Revolution Square in Kyiv, the so-called Revolution on Granite which was held from October 12 to 17, 1990,[7] which eventually led to the resignation the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Ukraine Vitaly Masol.

[2] During the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election was Kyrylenko the top candidate of Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc on its party list.

[3][4][14] In November 2009 Kyrylenko started to cooperate with the Party of Social Protection[4] In order to participate in the 2010 Ukrainian local elections.

On 23 February 2014, the second day after the flight of Viktor Yanukovich, while in a parliamentary session Kyrylenko moved to include in the agenda a draft that would repeal the 2012 Law "On the principles of the state language policy".

Repeal of the 2012 Law "On the principles of the state language policy" was met with great disdain in Crimea and Southern and Eastern Ukraine provoking waves of anti-government protests,[19] ultimately culminating with the Crimean crisis.

The acting President Oleksandr Turchinov announced on February 28, 2014 that he won't be signing the law into action,[20] but this reaction came too late to curb the unfolding crisis.

[21] Kyrylenko is married to Kateryna Mykhailivna[22] who is a philosophy lecturer at the Kyiv National University of Culture and the Arts.