Volodymyr Stakhiv. “Do Not Look for Allies at Any Cost, Even the Highest”
After the split in the OUN ranks, the nkvd/mgb bodies of the ussr closely watched those figures who were distinguished by a fundamentally irreconcilable and unyielding position towards their opponents, were not afraid to object to leaders in their own circle, and openly expressed their opinions, even if they went against the generally accepted ones. Such people were actively cultivated in order to use their ambitions in chekists’ interests or to encourage them to take actions that would lead to an even greater split, discord, weakening, and eventually destruction of the national liberation movement. One of those who was subject to special attention in the 1940s was Volodymyr Stakhiv.
2/21/2025
The kgb’s Encrypted Telegram from Bonn
Declassified archival documents of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine repeatedly mention the meetings in Munich held by leaders of the Ukrainian national liberation movement to adjust the strategy and tactics of further struggle for restoration of Ukraine's independence. The ussr kgb residentura in Bonn tried to monitor such events and report them to moscow for appropriate action. A clear evidence of which of those events caused the greatest concern and irritation of soviet special services is the encrypted telegram dated November 1985.
2/13/2025
To the 130th Anniversary of the Birth of Vasyl Vyshyvanyi
On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Vasyl Vyshyvanyi (born February 10, 1895), Austrian Archduke Wilhelm Franz von Habsburg-Lothringen, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine is publishing new documents from the archival case file on him. They add to the information that was previously published and allow us to better understand the multifaceted image of the fighter for the Ukrainian cause, his attempts to persuade influential European politicians and statesmen to take his side and gain support in Ukraine’s getting rid of moscow's influence and joining civilized Europe.
2/10/2025
Mykola Sadovskyi and Mykola Tobilevych. Encrypted Correspondence
Some of the letters that Mykola Tobilevych sent from Prague to Kyiv to his father, Mykola Sadovskyi, were encrypted. But that was not a theater game and was not done for entertainment. The Lieutenant Colonel of the UPR Army had every reason to suspect that he and his father, a prominent theater figure who returned home from exile in 1926, might be being watched by the gpu. Declassified documents from the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine tell us about those events, which are still unknown to the general public.
2/7/2025
Mykhailo Vetukhiv. “For the Ukrainian Cause – from the American Standpoint”
When a number of Ukrainian activists had moved from Europe to America after the World War II, the activities of some of them were monitored by the mgb/kgb of the ussr only through publications in the emigration press. Excerpts and clippings from such articles were used to form operational case files. Today, these materials provide a glimpse of how Ukrainian emigrants immediately after their arrival would join the struggle for the restoration of Ukrainian statehood and the support of this process by the governments of the United States, Canada, and other countries.
1/31/2025
Petro Filonenko. On the Instructions of Insurgent Intelligence
The archival documents of the Intelligence, relating to the activities of the Partisan Insurgent Staff of the State Center of the UPR in exile, headed by Khorunzhyi General Yurko Tiutiunnyk, repeatedly mention Petro Filonenko as an insurgent Otaman and intelligence officer. It is pointed out that he was an extremely brave starshyna (senior officer – Transl.), who, on the instructions of the Staff, more than once crossed the Polish-soviet border with his unit and defeated the red army and chekist units deep in occupied Ukraine.
1/23/2025
Mykola Velychkivskyi. Between the nkvd and the gestapo
On January 11, 1889, Ukrainian political and public figure, scientist, Professor, Head of the Ukrainian National Rada (Council- Transl.) in Kyiv (1941) Mykola Velychkivskyi was born. It was his heading the UNRada that became reason for the nkvd’s opening a case, conducting operational investigation and preparing plans for compromising him. This is shown by declassified documents from the archive of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
1/11/2025
Platonida Khotkevych. “So That She Would Not Publish Anything About Her Husband”
In the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, a thin file was found on Platonida Khotkevych, the wife of a prominent Ukrainian writer, literary critic, art historian, bandura player, composer, historian, ethnographer, and theater figure Hnat Khotkevych (born December 31, 1877), who was repressed by the stalinist regime and shot dead on October 8, 1938, for “participating in counterrevolutionary activities and spying for Germany”. His wife was tracked down by smersh (The name смерш (smersh) was coined by joseph stalin as a shortening of the russian-language phrase cмерть шпионам (smertʹ shpionam, "death to spies"- Transl.) in Prague after World War II and arrested “so that she would not publish anything about her husband”.
12/31/2024
“Happy Christmas, Your Excellency!”
In the archival files of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, along with agent reports, certificates, plans and instructions, there are ordinary everyday letters from the objects of operational cultivation, photographs, and postcards. In particular, there are many greetings on birthdays, national and religious holidays, such as Christmas. Reading these materials allows us to fill in the gaps in the biographies of figures of the Ukrainian liberation movement, to understand the motives of their actions, relationships with partners in the struggle and opponents, family and friends, and ultimately to see what they wished each other during periods of hardship, war, discouragement and despair.
12/24/2024
Yurii Sheveliov. The nkvd/kgb’s “Linguistic” Studies
The archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine have studied new materials on the prominent Ukrainian linguist, Slavicist, and literary critic Yurii Sheveliov (December 16, 1908 – April 12, 2002). They complement previously published research on the life and work of the scholar based on declassified documents, and shed light on the circumstances of the first manifestation of the nkvd’s operational interest in him, as well as the chekists’ targeted attention to his linguistic works throughout the decades that followed.
12/17/2024
