Yakiv Makohin. Founder of the “Ukrainian Press Bureau in London”
Galician Yakiv Makohin, who came to Europe from the United States in the early 1930s, immediately became the object of interest of influential figures of Ukrainian emigration and Soviet intelligence. He pretended to be a retired Colonel of the US Marine Corps and a descendant of Ukrainian Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovskyi, bought villas and apartments in Italy and Switzerland, in his car with his beautiful and wealthy American wife he had traveled half of Europe, and contributed a lot to support the Ukrainian national liberation movement and to draw the world’s attention to the Ukrainian question. At this, he cultivated a halo of mystery and secrecy around his persona, which is why he was often thought to be an American, or an English, or some other spy.
10/1/2021
Mykola Hlushchenko. Unknown Pages of the Life of the Famous Artist
The life and work of the outstanding artist Mykola Hlushchenko, whose 120th birthday is September 17, is multifaceted, full of bright events, dramatic twists of fate and mysteries. Art critics, historians, journalists, writers, and cinematographers have repeatedly tried to understand it. His biography was often accompanied by various conjectures and inaccuracies. The declassified, earlier unknown documents from the Intelligence’s archives make it possible to place certain emphasis on all this and shed light on the secret pages of the artist's life.
9/16/2021
“Ivan Ohienko Is Being Cultivated as the Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and an Active Ukrainian Nationalist”
Ivan Ohienko. Political, public and church figure, church historian, teacher, founder and first rector of Kamianets-Podilskyi State Ukrainian University, Minister of Education and Minister of Cults (confessions) in governments of the Ukrainian People's Republic, Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church… With his active pro-Ukrainian position, he clearly could not escape the attention of Soviet secret services. This is evidenced by the case-form entitled “Svyatosha” in intelligence archives.
9/8/2021
Olha Basarab. In Life and on Canvas
September 1 marks the 132nd birthday of Olha Basarab, who in Ukrainian history became the personification of asceticism and strong will, and her name is shrouded in a halo of martyrdom in the struggle for a united and independent Ukraine. Like a number of other patriots, Olha took part in underground activities during the national liberation struggle. She was a courier, contact agent, and performed certain intelligence tasks of leading figures of the Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO).
9/1/2021
National Symbols of the Ukrainian People’s Republic With the Trident on the Seal and in the Heart
During the existence of the UPR government and other Ukrainian organizations in exile, national symbols continued to be actively used on items of clothing, flags, awards, decorations and, most of all, in document circulation. This is evidenced by materials from the archival funds of the interwar period. Seals, stamps, forms of documents usually contained the coat of arms-trident. Different in form and layout, they now serve as a kind of reflection of the bygone era and an important source for research by scholars and historians.
8/17/2021
President of the Ukrainian People's Republic Andriy Livytskyi. The “Zubr” Target of Recruitment Cultivation by MGB of the Ukrainian SSR
Andriy Livytskyi is repeatedly mentioned in the Intelligence’s archival documents, because he was a key figure both during the proclamation of Ukraine's independence and its defense in 1917–1920, and during the struggle for the interests of Ukrainians in exile. At one time, on the occasion of the Day of Unity of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine published an article about the epistolary legacy of the long-term President of the Ukrainian People's Republic in exile. We are publishing new documents from the “Zubr” case which may add to Livytsky's eventful biography, and prove once again that he was an outstanding figure in the cause of Ukrainian statehood.
8/11/2021
Andriy Melnyk. Closely Watched by the KGB of the USSR
Among the declassified documents concerning the Head of the Provid (leadership- transl.) of Ukrainian Nationalists Andriy Melnyk, which are in the Branch State Archive of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, there are previously unknown materials about the preparation of 4th (Intelligence and Subversive Operations) Directorate of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR’s operation to liquidate him. These and other documents, photos, and letters make it possible to supplement the history of A. Melnyk's life and activity, which reflects all the drama and specificity of the past epoch and the difficult, often bloody struggle for Ukraine's independence.
8/3/2021
Isaaк Mazepa. At the Head of the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian National Rada
Isaak Mazepa was one of the central figures of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921. At different times, he headed the Ministries of Interior and Land Affairs, was the Prime Minister of the Government of the Directory of the Ukrainian People's Republic. These milestones in Ukrainian history are described in detail by researchers and I. Mazepa himself, who published several books and historical essays on the creation of the Ukrainian state and his role in the Liberation movement. No less interesting is his participation in the creation and organization of the Ukrainian National Rada (Council- transl.) immediately after World War II, about which not much evidence has survived. It is declassified documents from the archives of the Intelligence that make it possible to fill this gap.
7/27/2021
“Shemet Is One of the Main Organizers of The Hetman Movement Abroad…”
Serhiy Shemet, an attorney-in-fact and long-term personal secretary of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi, has been repeatedly mentioned in the Intelligence’s archival documents on various cases. At the same time, only the case-form instituted against him in November 1943 by the 4th (Intelligence) Directorate of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR allows us to draw a holistic picture of his special role in the activities of the Hetman's Office in exile and to find the answer to the question why Hetman valued and was bringing him close to himself.
7/20/2021
Roman Smal-Stotskyi. “Ukrainian Prometheus” of the National Liberation Movement of the Peoples of the USSR
Declassified documents about Roman Smal-Stotsky, which are in the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, show that he was of great interest to the NKVD. And this interest was not only due to his work in the emigration government of the Ukrainian People's Republic and his scientific activity as a talented Ukrainian linguist-Slavist. He was a threat to the Soviet government as an organizer and activist of the “Prometheus” movement, aimed at dismemberment of the USSR and national liberation of oppressed peoples.
7/13/2021
