Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People's Self-Defence Explained

Country:Ukraine
Ukrainian National Assembly
Foundation:3/4 November 1990
Dissolution:22 May 2014 (political wing only)
Membership Year:2006
Membership:8,000
Merged:Right Sector (political wing only)
Ideology:Ukrainian nationalism
Ukrainian irredentism
Pan-Slavism
Anti-communism
Position:Far-right
Wing1 Title:Paramilitary Wing
Wing1:Ukrainian National Self Defense
Colours:Red, black
Headquarters:Kyiv
Slogan:"Glory to the Nation, death to the enemies!"
Anthem:Stay, my love, don't cry, honey
UNSO
Native Name:УНСО
Dates:1994–present
Clans:"Argo"
"Viking"
Area:Ukraine
Ideology:
Partof:UNA-UNSO (until 22 May 2014)
Ukrainian territorial defence battalions (2022-present)
Allies: Armed Forces of Ukraine
Georgia
Russian Federation (Transnistria War)
(Transnistria War)
[1] [2] [3] [4]

[5]
Belarusian opposition
[6]
Opponents: Russian Federation (Russo-Ukrainian War)
(Transnistria War)
Romania[7] (Transnistria War)[8]
Abkhazia
Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus


Pro-Russian separatists
Kosovo Liberation Army
Battles:January Events
1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt
Transnistria War
War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)
First Karabakh War
First Chechen War
Euromaidan
Russo-Ukrainian War
War:the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, Transnistria War, War in Abkhazia (1992–1993), First Chechen War, Euromaidan, Russo-Ukrainian War----Primary target in Post-Soviet conflicts

The Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People's Self-Defence (Ukrainian: Українська Національна Асамблея-Українська Народна Самооборона , УНА-УНСО, UNA-UNSO) was a Ukrainian nationalist organisation. It was composed by a political wing (the Ukrainian National Assembly – UNA) and a paramilitary wing (Ukrainian People's Self-Defence – UNSO).

According to Andreas Umland and Anton Shekhovtsov, the UNA-UNSO was created in 1991 as a "formation manned by UNA members who had served in the Soviet armed forces ... to confront the State Committee on the State of Emergency".[9] The UNA-UNSO has been described by International-security expert Andrew McGregor as a "influential but fringe movement", which deeply influenced far-right politics in Ukraine due its visibility and militancy, although it still had small numbers. Although the Ukrainian National Assembly (Ukrainian: УНА, UNA) was the organisation's political wing, on 22 May 2014 it merged with Right Sector;[10] the UNSO continues to operate independently.

The UNSO has participated in multiple international conflicts by sending volunteers to support various belligerents. Including the First Nagorno-Karabakh War,[11] Transnistria War,[12] the War in Abkhazia,[13] First Chechen War,[14] the Yugoslav Wars and the Russo-Ukrainian War.

History

Early years

The UNA was created on 30 June 1990 in Lviv as the Ukrainian Interparty Assembly (UMA). On 3–4 November 1990, a congress of the Ukrainian National Association (UNS) was held in Kyiv. On 11 January 1991, UNS squads headed by Yuriy Tyma guarded the Seimas Palace during the January Events in Lithuania. On 30 June 1991, about 200 UNS members held a torchlight parade in Lviv commemorating the 1941 declaration of Ukrainian independence.

During the first days of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, a UNS squad led by Vietnam War veteran Valeriy Bobrovych left for Moscow; the squad later laid the foundations for the Argo battalion. On 19 August 1991, during the struggle against the State Committee on the State of Emergency, the UNS created squads of the Ukrainian People's Self-Defense (UNSO) in Kyiv. The squads were formed around a small group of ethnic-Ukrainian Soviet army veterans of the war in Afghanistan. In December 1990 Yuriy Shukhevych, the son of Roman Shukhevych, was elected as the first leader of the UNS. Because of the 8 September 1991 Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, the sixth session of the UMA was renamed the Ukrainian National Assembly; it became known as the UNA-UNSO, due to the UNSO's close association with the UNA.

Since its 1991 independence, Ukraine has had separatist movements aiming to reunite portions of Ukraine with Russia and other neighbouring countries. UNA-UNSO stopped People's Deputy Goncharov of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union from reestablishing the Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic and the Donetsk National Guard in the Donbas. In Kyiv, the Patriotic Forum (Otyechestvyennyi forum) was abolished. In November 1991 the UNSO held a rally, and due to a brawl involving UNSO fighters the government made the first mass arrests of UNSO activists. In Odesa UNSO halted an initiative to create a Novorossiysk Republic, influencing separatist movements in Bukovina and Zakarpattia. On 7 June 1992, an UNSO group from Lviv broke up a Romanian congress in Chernivtsi which advocated the unification of northern Bukovina and Romania. In early 1993, the UNSO had a reported 4,000 members.

Since 1994

The UNA was registered as a political party in December 1994, and in the 1994 Ukrainian parliamentary election three UNA-UNSO members were elected as deputies to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament). In September 1995, its registration was suspended until 1997.

UNSO was registered as a public organization in Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne and Poltava Oblasts only. In practise, however, there was no distinction between the membership of both organizations.

From 1994 to 1997, UNA-UNSO members became prominent in Ukraine through a number of anti-Russian activities. UNA-UNSO deputies destroyed a Russian flag in the Verkhovna Rada, UNA-UNSO fighters joined Chechen rebels in the First Chechen War and activists organised demonstrations against Russian pop singers visiting Ukraine. UNA-UNSO took sides in Ukrainian church affairs and clashed with police during the July 1995 funeral of Patriarch Volodomyr, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate. The organisations supported Patriarch Filaret Denysenko, who was excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church, and participated in violent attempts to seize property for the new church (particularly in Rivne and Volyn Oblasts). Membership peaked at around 10,000 members, about 90 percent of whom were between 18 and 35 years old. The organisation was depicted in Georgiy Gongadze's 1994 documentary film, Shadows of War.

In 1997, the government of Leonid Kuchma banned the Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defence. UNA-UNSO members responded with violent street protests, resulting in over 250 arrests. Dmytro Korchynsky, one of those arrested, soon left the organisation.

In 1998, UNA-UNSO's new leaders were Andriy Shkil and Yuriy Shukhevych, the son of Ukrainian nationalist Roman Shukhevych. In the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the organisation received 0.39 percent of the vote.[15]

Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian Nationalistic Self Defense members participated in the 2000–01 Ukraine without Kuchma protest campaign. In the 2002 parliamentary elections Andriy Shkil won an electoral district in Lviv Oblast and a seat in the Verkhovna Rada,[16] [17] the party itself won 0.04% of the votes.[15] In 2003 Shkil left the party,[18] and he has become an aide to Yulia Tymoshenko.[19] [20] During the Orange Revolution UNA-UNSO members supported Viktor Yushchenko against his pro-Russian opponents, providing security for Yushchenko supporters and Orange leaders such as Yulia Tymoshenko in Kyiv's Independence Square.[21]

In 2005, Yuriy Shukhevych again became the party's leader. In the 2006 parliamentary election, it failed to win parliamentary representation with 0.06 percent of the vote[15] and did not participate in the 2007 election.[15]

In 2008, South Ossetian attorney general Teimuraz Khugayev accused UNA-UNSO of joining a Georgian unit during the August war, but no evidence has been provided.[22] According to an August 2009 Russian Investigative Committee report, 200 UNA-UNSO members and soldiers from the Ukrainian Ground Forces aided Georgia during the fighting. Ukraine denied the accusation. UNA-UNSO deputy head Mykola Karpyuk said that "unfortunately", no organisation members took part in the Georgian conflict.

UNA-UNSO participated in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election,[23] receiving 0.08 percent of the national vote and winning none of the five electoral districts in which they fielded candidates.[24]) and thus failed to win parliamentary representation.[25] In March 2014, Russia brought a criminal case against the party and some of its members, including party leader Oleh Tyahnybok of Svoboda, for "organizing an armed gang" which allegedly fought the Russian 76th Guards Air Assault Division during the first Chechen war.[26] The organisation's Ukrainian National Assembly political wing merged with Right Sector on 22 May 2014.

Leaders

International conflicts

Transnistria

During the Transnistria War, UNA-UNSO members fought with Transnistrian separatists against Moldovan government forces,[30] purportedly in defence of Transnistria's large ethnic Ukrainian minority.[31] Over 50 UNSO members were awarded the Defender of Transnistria Order.

Georgian civil war

In 1993, UNA-UNSO sent volunteers to the Abkhaz–Georgian conflict against Abkhaz separatists.[32] [33] The UNA-UNSO Argo unit joined the Georgian side against Russian-backed Abkhaz forces, and some volunteers joined the Sukhumi Battalion of the Marine Infantry Forces of Georgia. A CPT Ustym squad prevented an amphibious assault of Russian forces near Sukhumi, sinking a Russian military motorboat. Seven UNSO members died near Sukhumi, and 30 members received the Order of Vakhtang Gorgasali medal. The UNA-UNSO units did not lose a battle in the civil war.

Russo-Ukrainian War

UNSO had also fought in the Russo-Ukrainian War as part of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps[34] and the Territorial defence battalions 131st Separate Reconnaissance Battalion "UNSO",[35] [36] 1st Recon Company UNSO and 55th UNSO Battalion. It also fought in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[37]

Ideology and image

The Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People's Self-Defence 1994 party platform envisioned Kyiv as the centre of a new, pan-Slavic, eastern military bloc.[31] International-security expert Andrew McGregor said in 2006 that the UNA-UNSO "might be best characterized as an influential fringe movement" and "its high visibility belies its limited numbers." Its anthem is "Stay, my love, don't cry, honey", a reprise of "Bella ciao".[38]

Elections

UNA-UNSO parliamentarians

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Украинские националисты УНАО-УНСО признали, что воевали на стороне Азербайджана в Карабахе . panorama.am . 17 September 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170517033224/http://www.panorama.am/ru/news/2010/09/17/mikola-karpyuk/1056213 . 17 May 2017 . ru.
  2. News: Армянский эксперт: В Первую Карабахскую войну украинские неонацисты служили в армии Азербайджана летчиками и артиллеристами . eadaily.com . 5 July 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200731131641/https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2016/07/05/armyanskiy-ekspert-v-pervuyu-karabahskuyu-voynu-ukrainskie-neonacisty-sluzhili-v-armii-azerbaydzhana-letchikami-i . 31 July 2020 . ru . Кроме чеченских боевиков, радикальных исламистов из Афганистана, „Серых волков“ и других, отметились в Карабахе и украинские нацисты из УНА-УНСО..
  3. News: "В случае войны мы окажем баку посильную помощь" . euraspravda.ru . 5 March 2014 . ru.
  4. News: "В случае войны мы окажем Баку посильную помощь" . Minval.az . ru.
  5. Web site: "Украинские националисты собираются в Грузию воевать против России" . 24 April 2008 .
  6. Web site: Radical Ukrainian Nationalism and the War in Chechnya. Jamestown.
  7. Web site: "Краще згинути вовком, нiж жити псом" .
  8. Web site: Refworld | Ukraine: Ideology, goals, organization and activities of the Ukrainian Nationalist Assembly – Ukrainian Nationalist Self-Defense Organization (UNA-UNSO); treatment of UNA-UNSO members by the authorities (January 1999 – August 2004) .
  9. Umland. Andreas. Shekhovtsov. Anton. Ultraright Party Politics in Post-Soviet Ukraine and the Puzzle of the Electoral Marginalism of Ukrainian Ultranationalists in 1994–2009. Russian Politics and Law. September–October 2013. 51. 5. 33–58. 10.2753/RUP1061-1940510502. 144502924.
  10. http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/206070.html Right Sector registered as official party
  11. Web site: LLC . Helix Consulting . Украинские националисты УНАО-УНСО признали, что воевали на стороне Азербайджана в Карабахе . 2022-04-16 . panorama.am.
  12. Web site: 2012-01-29 . Украина.Ru Украинская национальная ассамблея – Украинская национальная самооборона (УНА-УНСО) . 2022-04-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120129234419/http://www.ukraine.ru/catalog/parties/una.html . 29 January 2012 .
  13. Web site: Консульство Грузии во Львове откроют "герои" кавказской войны . 2022-04-16 . Росбалт . ru.
  14. Web site: Сторонники УНА-УНСО – против вступления Украины в НАТО и воевали в Чечне . 2022-04-16 . ИА REGNUM . ru.
  15. Українська національна Ассамблея, Database DATA
  16. http://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vd2002/webproc0e The Constituency № 121
  17. http://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vd2002/webproc0e Results of voting in single-mandate constituencies
  18. Web site: A brief course of UNA-UNSO history UNA-UNSO :: Articles. 3 March 2015.
  19. Web site: Yulia Tymoshenko’s orbits / Ukrayinska Pravda. 17 April 2008. 24 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924125842/http://www.pravda.com.ua/en/news/2006/4/3/5083.htm. dead.
  20. Web site: The Makeup of the New Verkhovna Rada / Ukrayinska Pravda. https://web.archive.org/web/20080317182108/http://www.pravda.com.ua/en/news/2007/11/5/9329.htm. dead. 17 March 2008.
  21. http://www.ncsj.org/auxpages/010105AP_Ukraine.shtml Far-right Group Flexes During Ukraine "Revolution"
  22. News: Foreign Traces in the Strange War. Kommersant. 25 November 2008. 30 November 2008. Allenova. Olga. 4 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030945/http://www.kommersant.com/p1080698/r_530/Russia_claims_Georgia_hired_mercenaries/. dead.
  23. Відомості щодо реєстрації виборчих списків кандидатів у депутати Information on the registration of electoral lists of candidates, Central Election Commission of Ukraine
  24. Candidates, RBC Ukraine
  25. Proportional votes & Constituency seats, Central Election Commission of Ukraine
  26. Web site: Russia launches criminal case against Ukraine's Tiahnybok. Interfax-Ukraine. 30 October 2014.
  27. https://web.archive.org/web/20161116142759/http://unso.in.ua/uk/new/golovoyu-partiyi-una-unso-stav-valeriy-bobrovych Head of the UNA-UNSO party became Valeriy Bobrovych (Головою партії УНА-УНСО став Валерій Бобрович)
  28. Web site: LLC . Helix Consulting . 2010-09-17 . Украинские националисты УНАО-УНСО признали, что воевали на стороне Азербайджана в Карабахе . Ukrainian nationalist UNAO-UNSO admitted to fighting on the side of Azerbaijan in Karabakh . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170517033224/http://www.panorama.am/ru/news/2010/09/17/mikola-karpyuk/1056213 . 2017-05-17 . 2022-03-21 . panorama.am . ru.
  29. Book: Ukraine in the Crossfire. 9780997896541. 5 April 2017. SCB Distributors.
  30. Web site: УНСО. 3 March 2015.
  31. https://books.google.com/books?id=QZr1vsDIvlUC&dq=Shukhevych%27s+son&pg=PA290 The radical right in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989
  32. https://books.google.com/books?id=QefWeesOFDoC&dq=UNA-UNSO+Georgia&pg=PA349 Democratic Changes and Authoritarian Reactions in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova (Democratization and Authoritarianism in Post-Communist Societies)
  33. https://books.google.com/books?id=rhKYfA5x3eYC&dq=UNA-UNSO+Georgia&pg=PA173 State Building and Military Power in Russia and the New States of Eurasia (International Politics of Eurasia)
  34. News: In Poland, Ukrainian Donbas War Veteran Faces Extradition To Russia . 2022-04-24 . Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 11 November 2019 .
  35. Web site: 131-й розвідбат (курінь УНСО): народжений війною . 4 April 2016 .
  36. News: 16 March 2015 . Volunteer battalions in eastern Ukraine: who are they? UACRISIS.ORG. Ukraine crisis media center . live . 22 January 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191218193321/http://uacrisis.org/20026-volunteer-battalions-eastern-ukraine . 18 December 2019.
  37. Web site: Ponomarenko . Illia . Illia Ponomarenko . EXPLAINER: What to expect from the Battle of Donbas, Russia's new offensive . 21 April 2022 . Kyiv Independent. 21 April 2022 .
  38. УНСО, YouTube