UNR MEMBERS IN THE UPA IN VOLYN

Abstract

The circumstances of joining to the Ukrainian insurgent army of former participants of the Ukrainian National Democratic Revolution of 1917–1921, soldiers of the Army of the Ukrainian Peopleʼs Republic, who in the interwar period became political emigrants and lived in the Volyn Voivodeship, were analyzed. Some of them did not stop fighting until the middle 1920s , trying to support the anti-Bolshevik movement in the Soviet Ukraine. A new chance to compete for the Ukrainian state appeared during the Second World War. Through the involvement of archival and criminal case materials, memories, periodicals of the time, it was possible to fi nd out their names and partially trace their fate activists of the revolution. The reasons for the small number of such soldiers were explained. It was emphasized that these were mostly elderly people, burdened by old wounds and diseases. It was proved that the UPR community suffered signifi cant repression during the period of the first Sovietization (September 17, 1939 – June 22, 1941), which led to its dispersal. Some of these people saved their lives by leaving for Nazi-controlled territory. It was emphasized 94 Руслана Давидюк that the members of the Ukrainian National Peopleʼs Republic remained loyal to the idea of Ukraine’s independence during the Second World War, two of them, Leonid Stupnytskyi and Ivan Treiko, were awarded the rank of corporal general of the UPA (posthumously). The contribution of UPR political emigrants to the insurgent struggle as founders of intelligence, priests, and initiators of the reorganization of the UPA was clarified. Attention was drawn to a significant percentage of children of former Petlyurians in the ranks of the UPR Army, which is due to parental upbringing during the formation of their personality. It has been proven that the participation of the soldiers of the UPR Army in the UIA, where they shared their experience and military skills, testifies to the continuity and persistence of the struggle of Ukrainians for national independence. Keywords Ukrainian People’s Republic, Ukrainian political emigrants, Ukrainian insurgent army, Volyn, liberation struggle.