VICTIMS OF EXTRAJUDICIAL REPRESSION AND SUBJECTS OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY CRIMES IN THE TERRITORY OF UKRAINE (1918–1922 AD)

Abstract

The article examines the relation between the Bolshevik political doctrine and the activity of the extraordinary commissions in theUkrainian SSR in 1918-1922. The forms and methods of combating counterrevolutionary crimes are shown. The mechanism of implementation of the “red terror” policy in the context of the struggle with counterrevolution was explored. The legal basis for the work of extraordinary commissions on repression is analyzed. Compared the legalization of responsibility forcounter-revolutionary crimes and the practice of its application. The article analyzes the class affiliation, the social status of victims ofextrajudicial repressions by extraordinary commissions. Compares the experience of the Jacobin terror during the French Revolution and the Bolshevik “red terror” policy. The author presentsstatistical data on the number of victims of repression, their social status, class membership both during the Jacobin dictatorshipin France and during the implementation of the “red terror” policy in Ukraine. The author mentions information from archival sources about the activities of extraordinary commissions and their repression. The normative basis of the policy of “red terror”, a special legislation that was active in this field is explored. The author in the articlepresents assessments of the activities of the Bolshevik bodies of state security in Ukraine from the side of real eyewitnesses, participantsin those events, party figures, and publicists of those times. The provisions of secret documents that aimed at manually managing the policy of “red terror” were set forth. The author presentsa series of statistical data on the performance of state security bodies in Ukraine. The genesis of the development of criminal-law policyin the field of struggle with counterrevolutionary crimes was explored. The article analyzes the provisions of the Criminal Code of the USSR in 1922, which concern the establishment of criminal responsibilityfor counter-revolutionary crimes. Significant differences of the current criminal law in the field of crimes against the nationalsecurity of Ukraine and the Bolshevik criminal legislation regarding the fight against state crimes were revealed.