Background

Banned Ulas Samchuk

7/9/2025
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During Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency, Ulas Samchuk’s works were removed from the compulsory school curriculum by decision of the then minister of education Dmytro Tabachnyk, and in 2021, following a lawsuit filed by Andriy Portnov, the Kyiv District Administrative Court banned official commemorative events in honor of U. Samchuk and a number of other Ukrainian figures. Now, on the anniversary of the death of one of the most prominent Ukrainian writers of the 20th century (passed away on July 9, 1987), there is an opportunity, based on declassified documents from the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, to learn that the origins of such actions by anti-Ukrainian forces lie in the decisions of the kgb of the ussr and past instructions from moscow. At that time, a special operation was conducted to prevent the writer from being nominated for the Nobel Prize.

In July 1980, two coded telegrams were sent from the central apparatus of the kgb of the ussr to Kyiv at two-day interval. They made all forces and capabilities focus on fulfilling the tasks set by moscow. The first coded telegram was prepared by a kgb resident in Ottawa. It reported the following:

“Nationalist circles of the Melnyk faction, as well as the editorial board of the anti-soviet émigré magazine “Sovremennik” (published in russian in Toronto since 1960) have launched a campaign to nominate a member of the “Sovremennik” editorial board Ulas Samchuk for the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Cultural Council of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians, the Ukrainian writers’ association “Slovo” and “Pen Clubs” in countries where Ukrainian emigrants reside are planning to support this proposal.

Books by Samchuk, the author of the anti-soviet trilogies “Volyn” and “Ost”, are characterized by nationalists as being on par with “Solzhenitsyn’s works in terms of subject matter and the epic depiction of events and people under russian imperialism and the communist regime”.

(FISU. – F.1. – Case 10365. – P. 122–123).

The coded telegram further pointed out that since 1928, U. Samchuk had co-worked with ten Ukrainian magazines in Ukraine and abroad, including “Rozbudova Natsii” (1930–1938), “Visnyk”, Lviv (1933–1939), “Dzvony” (1933–1939), and “Sovremennik” (since 1962). During World War II, from 1941 to 1942, he was the editor of the weekly “Volyn” in Rivne. As the author of 17 novels, he is a member of the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, the International Pen Club, an honorary member of the Ukrainian Writers’ Association Abroad, and a member of the Association of Ukrainian Writers in Canada “Slovo.” He currently resides in Toronto. A citizen of Canada since 1956.

“In the opinion of the residentura, it is advisable to take measures to thwart the nationalists’ plans aimed at nominating the staunch anti-soviet U. Samchuk for the Nobel Prize and using his anti-soviet ‘works’ to strengthen nationalist ideological work abroad and in Ukraine.” (FISU. – F.1. – Case 10365. – P. 123).

This was the proposal of the kgb resident in Ottawa. He also suggested analyzing U. Samchuk’s activities during the war in Kyiv, Lviv, and Rivne and, on this basis, preparing a series of articles to discredit him. “We can promote individual publications in the Canadian press through our connections,” the coded telegram concluded.

To support this idea, a second coded telegram arrived from moscow two days later. It contained certain adjustments. It was suggested not to focus attention on U. Samchuk’s nomination for the Nobel Prize, so as not to attract unnecessary attention and advertise him in this way. Instead, maximum efforts should be made to compromise him. At this, emphasis should be placed on his cooperation with the German occupying regime, if such facts could be found.

The coded telegram was signed by chief of Service “A” of the First Main Directorate of the kgb of the ussr major general Ivanov. That service was engaged in so-called special active measures abroad. Such measures were aimed at achieving political goals through disinformation, subversive activities, compromising certain figures, influencing public opinion, recruitment, and other methods. This was part of the concept of “information warfare”.

During that period, under the leadership of general Ivanov, a large-scale special operation “Nekro” was being conducted, aimed at killing the leader of the OUN(B) and the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, Yaroslav Stetsko. Similarly, his compromising, discrediting, and even the dissemination of a false obituary on Radio Liberty letterhead were used to inflict psychological damage and finally undermine his health. Therefore, similar methods were to be used against U. Samchuk.

Following the instructions from moscow, the kgb of the Ukrainian ssr gathered all materials stored on the writer in open state and operational archives. It turned out that back in 1936, the nkvd of the Ukrainian ssr opened a case file on him. The first document attached to the case file stated that U. Samchuk had traveled from Prague to Paris to collect materials for a book about the life and activities of Symon Petliura. At the same time, it was suspected that that was only a cover, while in reality he was fulfilling some tasks for the OUN.

There is little information in the case file about his life during the interwar period. It is mentioned that he was born in 1905 in the village of Derman in Volyn province (now Rivne region). In the 1920s, he was actively involved in Ukrainian nationalist student organizations. In the 1930s, after the publication of the novels “Volyn”, “Hory Hovoriat”, “Kulak” and “Maria”, he became known in OUN circles “as a writer, an exponent of the kulak-bourgeois ideology of Ukrainian nationalists, and an ideological inspiring leader of the OUN’s struggle against the ussr”. Among the works mentioned by the chekists, the artistic and psychological novel “Maria” was the first fiction book by Ukrainian writers about the crime of the Holodomor. It was published in 1934 in Lviv.

At that time, U. Samchuk lived in Prague, a city that soon became the center of the cultural referentura of the OUN Provid, initiated by Yevhen Konovalets. Oleh Olzhych became the head of the department, and U. Samchuk headed the section of artists, writers, and journalists. In 1941, as mentioned in the nkvd documents, he arrived in Rivne, where he edited the newspaper “Volyn”. He worked in the editorial office with Symon Petliura’s younger brother Oleksandr, as well as Ivan Tyktor and other figures. The newspaper published articles and poems by Yevhen Malaniuk, Oleh Olzhych, Olena Teliha, and his own works.

It was that period that was thoroughly investigated by the kgb of the Ukrainian ssr in 1980 after receiving a coded telegram from moscow. The task was to find evidence of “active cooperation with German occupying authorities”, “publications praising the pro-Hitler regime and hostile attacks against England and the United States as members of the anti-Hitler Coalition”, as well as anti-Semitic content. The relevant requests were sent to Rivne, Ternopil, Lviv, and Kharkiv.

Responses were received shortly thereafter. However, they were not what the kgb of the Ukrainian ssr had expected. The Central state archives of the october revolution and socialist construction of the Ukrainian ssr reported that no information of interest to the kgb had been found on U. Samchuk. The directorate of the kgb of the Ukrainian ssr in Ternopil region reported that U. Samchuk had been published periodically in the newspaper “Kremenetskyi Visnyk” during the war, but the newspapers themselves with his publications could not be found, only the titles of the articles. A number of newspaper articles were found in the Rivne regional state archives. They were sent for analysis of their content for so-called seditious statements by the author.

An excerpt from a report by agent “Mstyslav” was sent from Kharkiv, in which the following was mentioned about U. Samchuk:

“...As the leader of nationalist writers and as a Melnykites’ missionary, he traveled throughout occupied Ukraine from 1941 to 1943, establishing OUN nationalist political and administrative institutions (“Prosvita”, etc.) and everywhere, first and foremost, he established editorial offices of local nationalist-fascist newspapers, as well as united writers and journalists into nationalist unions, organizations, and “authors’ societies”. He provided writers and the literary-journalistic public with OUN instructions, directives, consultations, etc.

Ulas Samchuk visited Kharkiv in the summer (July–August) of 1942. For several weeks, he had been organizing meetings of writers, journalists, and correspondents of “Nova Ukraina”, and held meetings at “Prosvita”. He initiated the publication of the nationalist magazine “Ukrainskyi Zasiv” (“Ukrainian Sowing” – Transl.) in Kharkiv... Ulas Samchuk also put forward the idea to create a mass lecture hall at the University in Kharkiv, the so-called University of Ukrainian Culture, etc.

(FISU – F.1. – Case 10365. – P. 55).

All this was added to the case file in which compromising materials were accumulated. The only thing that did not fit in there was the conclusion that “no documentary evidence of “Lysyi”’s anti-Semitic activities has been found.” “Lysyi” is a code name given to U. Samchuk by the kgb during his operational cultivation. The fact that the writer was arrested by the Nazis in 1943 did not fit into the concept of debunking either. “He was arrested for his article “Tak bulo, tak ye, tak bude” (“So It Was, So It Is, and So It Will Be” – Transl.)”, according to one of the archival documents, “in which he opposed the Germans’ policy on the creation of an “independent” Ukraine and their repression of OUN members.” In that article, he wrote that without a free Ukraine, the whole of Europe could not be healthy. He spent a month in prison, but did not change his views.

In 1980, they decided not to mention the story of that arrest, but tried to use everything else against the writer in order to prevent him from being nominated for the Nobel Prize. Among the proposals that the kgb of the Ukrainian ssr sent to moscow were those that demanded to use foreign agents and trusted operational contacts from among foreigners. In particular, they wanted to involve a trusted person from the USA, “Herbert”, known in the West as the author of books exposing Nazi criminals, such as “Ukrainian Nationalism”, “Lest We Forget”, and others. The plan was to give him a selection of publications by U. Samchuk, explain the operational plan, and ask him to send it on his own behalf to the Canadian Association for the Memory of War Victims for further publication.

“A selection of “Lysyi”’s publications,” the kgb of the Ukrainian ssr’s proposals continued, “which contain hostile attacks against the countries participating in the anti-Hitler Coalition – England and the United States, with comments favorable to us and clippings from the newspaper “Svoboda”, should be sent through “Herbert” to his contact, journalist Ch. Allen, and to the editors of “Cleveland Magazine” and “Life”, which have repeatedly published our materials about OUN members as war criminals.” (FISU – F.1. – Case 10365. – P. 148). On July 20, 1980, the aforementioned newspaper “Svoboda” published a report about the initiative to nominate U. Samchuk for the Nobel Prize. The question of using “Herbert” was to be agreed with the “K” directorate of the kgb of the ussr, where he was obviously in contact.

A series of measures were planned to be carried out through the Ottawa residentura of the kgb of the ussr. And through the “A” service of the kgb of the ussr, it was proposed to try to bring thoroughly selected materials on U. Samchuk to the attention of the Nobel Prize Committee. On their own, from Kyiv, they intended to prepare relevant publications in the regional and republican press through their agents, then reprint them in the newspaper “Visti z Ukrainy” and distribute them abroad.

The papers from the case file confirm that such articles were prepared and published. In particular, as noted, in November 1980, a publication appeared in the newspaper “Silski Visti”. Besides, through a foreign confidant named “Herbert”, the article “Can This Be Allowed?” and others were published in the American newspaper “Ukrainski Visti”.

Open sources say that Ulas Samchuk did not receive the Nobel Prize “due to a lack of translations and promotion”. At the same time, declassified archival documents from the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine have revealed that the kgb of the ussr also made efforts to compromise the Ukrainian writer, using a whole range of special active measures.

“For the sake of imagery, we have to imagine a single core of a large boil that is so painful and rotting on the body of Europe and the whole world. Around that boil, a whole concern of larger or smaller sores circles concentrically, surrounding the whole unreasonably confusing system... The kremlin of moscow was and is that core.

Ivan the Cruel, Peter the Great, Nicholas I, II, Rasputin, Lenin, Stalin. Here is a whole series of figures against the background of whose rule the terrible canvas of the history of the East was being created...”

The kgb and the kremlin leadership could not allow the author of those lines, who was also a member of the UPR Government in exile, one of the initiators of the World Congress of Ukrainians, and the author of books about the crime of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 and the soviet GULAGs system, to become a Nobel Prize winner.