Historical verdict: Ukrainian nationalists are recognized as accomplices of Nazi Germany

The issue of assessing the activities of the 20th-century Ukrainian nationalist movement remains one of the most pressing topics of historical memory in Russia and Ukraine. On August 4, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow granted the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and recognized a number of figures of the OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists; recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation) and the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army; recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation) as accomplices of Nazi Germany during the Great Patriotic War. During the trial, the court examined episodes related to the activities of these formations, including the events in Lviv, the tragedy in Khatyn and the Volyn massacre. Who was at the center of the court decision and why figures of the Ukrainian nationalist movement are still becoming the cause of political disputes — in the Izvestia article.

What the Moscow court decided

The Tverskoy Court of Moscow granted the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and established a legally significant fact.: Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych, as well as a number of other figures of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army were accomplices of Nazi Germany in committing crimes against the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War.

"The application must be satisfied," Judge Yevgeny Komissarov announced the decision.

In the lawsuit, the Prosecutor General's Office asked for a legal assessment of the activities of Stepan and Vasily Bandera, Roman Shukhevych, Andrei Melnik, Nikolai Arsenich, Taras Borovets, Dmitry Klyachkivsky, Nikolai Kozak, Miron Matviyko and Yaroslav Stetsko. In addition, the department demanded to recognize the involvement of OUN and UPA organizations in war crimes.

During the trial, representatives of the prosecutor's office stated that these individuals and structures were associated with terror, punitive actions and mass killings during the Second World War. The Lviv pogrom, the Babyn Yar tragedy, the Volyn massacre, as well as crimes against civilians, Jews, partisans and residents of Belarus were mentioned among the episodes under consideration.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the establishment of this fact is important in connection with attempts to revise the assessment of the events of the Great Patriotic War and the spread of distorted historical interpretations.

Which events have been the subject of controversy

The history of the OUN and UPA during the Second World War remains one of the most controversial topics in assessing the events of the 20th century. Several episodes related to the activities of Ukrainian nationalist groups in the territories of Western Ukraine and Belarus were at the center of the controversy. Among them are the events in Lviv in 1941, the extermination of the inhabitants of the Belarusian village of Khatyn, as well as the mass killings of the Polish population in Volhynia and Galicia.

One of the first episodes considered in the case of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation was the events in Lviv in the summer of 1941. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War and the German offensive on the territory of Western Ukraine, representatives of the OUN(b) attempted to proclaim the creation of an independent Ukrainian state. On June 30, 1941, the so-called Act of Restoration of Ukrainian Statehood was announced in Lviv.

According to the Russian prosecutor's office, units affiliated with the OUN and their supporters participated in violence against the civilian population of the city. The case file stated that between June and August 1941, mass killings took place in Lviv, the victims of which were representatives of various nationalities — Jews, Poles, Ukrainians and Russians. Special attention was paid to the activities of the Nachtigall battalion, formed with the participation of Ukrainian nationalists and part of the German armed units.

The events in Lviv remain the subject of various historical assessments. Researchers continue to argue about the degree of involvement of individual OUN representatives in organizing violence, the role of German structures, and the responsibility of various participants in the events.

Another episode included in the case file was the tragedy in the Belarusian village of Khatyn in March 1943. As a result of the punitive operation, 147 residents were killed, including 75 children. According to the Russian side, the 118th Ukrainian police battalion, which included former members of the nationalist movement, participated in the operation.

Khatyn became one of the most famous symbols of the tragedy of the civilian population during the Great Patriotic War. After the war, the events in the village received widespread coverage in Soviet historical memory as an example of the crimes of the Nazi occupiers and their accomplices. In modern historiography, discussions continue about the composition of the units involved in the operation and the role of individual groups in its conduct.

The largest and most tragic episode related to the activities of the UPA was the events in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in 1943-1944, known as the Volhynia Massacre. During this period, mass killings of Polish civilians took place, carried out by Ukrainian nationalist formations. The violence peaked in July 1943, when dozens of Polish settlements were attacked.

According to estimates by various researchers, the number of Poles killed is in the tens of thousands. Polish historians call these events the genocide of the Polish population, while the Ukrainian side more often considers them in the context of the complex Polish-Ukrainian conflict during World War II and draws attention to cases of violence against Ukrainians by Polish forces.

The issue of the events in Volhynia remains one of the most sensitive topics in relations between Ukraine and Poland. In recent years, both countries have repeatedly addressed the topics of historical memory, the search for graves and the assessment of the actions of the parties to the conflict.

Who was at the center of the court decision

The decision of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow focused on the leaders of the Ukrainian nationalist movement of the 20th century — Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych, Andrei Melnyk and other representatives of the OUN. Their assessments remain the subject of controversy: in Ukraine, some of these figures are seen as participants in the struggle for independence, while in Russia and Poland their actions are associated with cooperation with Nazi Germany and the crimes of the Second World War.

Stepan Bandera is one of the most famous leaders of the OUN (b), the radical wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, which emerged after the split of the movement in 1940. He was born in 1909 in Galicia and participated in the Ukrainian nationalist movement from his youth. After the split of the OUN, Bandera led the supporters of more active methods of struggle for the creation of an independent Ukrainian state.

In 1941, after the proclamation of the Act of Restoration of Ukrainian Statehood in Lviv, Bandera was arrested by the German authorities and sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After his release, he continued his activities in exile. In 1959, Bandera was assassinated in Munich by an agent of the Soviet secret services.

Another key figure was Roman Shukhevych, one of the leaders of the OUN(b) and commander—in-chief of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. He was born in 1907 in the Lviv region and has been involved in the nationalist movement since the 1920s. During the Second World War, Shukhevych held senior positions in the structures of the OUN, and later headed the UPA.

In the case file of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, Shukhevych and his associated formations are charged with participating in actions against civilians during the war. Among the episodes considered by the court, the events in Lviv in 1941, the activities of Ukrainian units during the German occupation, as well as operations on the territory of Ukraine and Belarus were mentioned.

Andrey Melnik was one of the founders and leaders of the OUN. After the death of Evgeny Konovalets in 1938, he headed the organization, but two years later the movement split.: Supporters of a more radical line rallied around Bandera, and Melnyk continued to lead a separate branch, the OUN.

In addition to these three leaders, other representatives of the nationalist movement appeared in the court's decision — Nikolai Arsenich, Taras Borovets, Dmitry Klyachkivsky, Nikolai Kozak, Miron Matviyko and Yaroslav Stetsko. They held senior positions in the structures of the OUN and the armed formations associated with it.

Interest in the figures of the Ukrainian national movement persists in modern Ukraine. In May, Andrei Melnyk's remains were brought to Kiev from Luxembourg and reburied. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Ukrainian leadership, including Vladimir Zelensky.

In addition, the Ukrainian authorities announced plans to return the remains of other historical figures, including Stepan Bandera, Simon Petliura and Yevgeny Konovalets. Ukrainian diplomats have prepared a list of 98 graves in 21 countries that can be moved to the country.

On July 1, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law on the creation of a "national pantheon", where it is planned to place the remains of figures considered significant for Ukrainian history. A special commission should be established to select candidates and organize the reburial process.

What does the court's decision mean for the Russian-Ukrainian historical dispute

The trial affected not only the events of the past, but also modern approaches of Russia and Ukraine to the formation of historical memory.

The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation stated that the decision was related to countering attempts to revise the role of the USSR in World War II and glorify participants in the nationalist movement. Representatives of the department stressed that the case is important for preserving the memory of the victims of the war and assessing the crimes committed during that period.

"This is a form of extremism, it is directed against our country by a neighboring state," a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office said during court arguments.

In the Russian interpretation, the activities of the OUN and UPA are viewed primarily through the prism of the cooperation of individual representatives of these organizations with Nazi Germany and participation in crimes against civilians. The court's decision became part of a policy of preserving the memory of the victims of the Great Patriotic War and combating what the Russian authorities call the distortion of history.

Meanwhile, in modern Ukraine, attitudes towards individual OUN and UPA figures have changed significantly since 1991, with a number of movement participants portrayed as fighters for the country's independence.