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
UHVR’s Foreign Mission. “America Will Help Us!”
In the late 1940s, the leading figures of the Ukrainian national liberation movement came to the conclusion that in order to preserve the lives of people and forces in further struggle for Ukraine's independence, it was necessary to change the strategy and tactics. One of the elements of this was the decision to turn for help to the strongest democracies of the world of the time. Along with conducting joint special operations, this cooperation was to be crucial in providing moral support for the liberation struggle, drawing attention to the Ukrainian issue, and conveying to the world community the understanding that Ukrainians and russians are not one community, not one people, as many people abroad believed due to a lack of understanding of all aspects of history. New declassified documents from the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine tell us this.
12/11/2024
Denys Kvitkovskyi, Ukrainian public and political figure, lawyer, political writer, publisher, historian, head of the OUN (m) (1977–1979)
Among the archival documents of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine regarding the figures of the Ukrainian national liberation movement, there are interesting statements, quotations, testimonies, reminiscences about their participation in the struggle for Ukraine’s statehood. Based on these materials, we can trace and assess the role of prominent Ukrainians in the creation of the state, their contribution to Ukraine's independence and struggle for its restoration.
11/30/2024
“Prevent Information About the Famine in Ukraine from Leaking Abroad”
In the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, there are documents which show how in the 1980s the kgb of the Ukrainian ssr had been monitoring very closely the Ukrainian diaspora’s activity aimed at drawing the attention of the world community to the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine and had been trying to prevent it in every possible way. Circulars and instructions from Kyiv to regional kgb departments told what agent-operational measures should be taken “to counter hostile actions by foreign national centers”.
11/23/2024
“To Provoke a Negative Attitude to Ukrainian Emigrants”
Declassified documents from the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine allow us to learn about hitherto unknown dirty methods from the arsenal of the kgb of the ussr, which were once used against Ukrainian emigrants. Among them – provoking unfriendly feelings, negative attitude and enmity towards emigrants in the countries of their compact residence. This is stated in the kgb’s administrative documents, plans, reports, and messages. The ways in which it was done now cause indignation and revulsion.
11/15/2024
Father Vasyl Kushnir. The First President of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee
The abbreviation UCC has always appeared in operational documents of the mgb/kgb of the ussr alongside the phrases “anti-soviet activities”, “Ukrainian bourgeois nationalists”, and “irreconcilable enemies of the soviet union”. Similar epithets and comparisons were used against the activists who created and developed this powerful social and political organization. Among them was Father Vasyl Kushnir, the UCC’s first President and longtime leader (1940-1952, 1957-1971), President of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians (1967-1969, 1973-1978), a religious and public figure who consistently united the Ukrainian diaspora and directed it to support the national liberation movement in the historical homeland and the revival of Ukraine's independence.
11/6/2024
