KYIV — The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has organized public hearings about the international contacts of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) during World War II, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service reports.
The history of the UPA is highly controversial in Ukraine, as Soviet propaganda depicted the UPA — which fought against both the Nazis and the Soviets — as traitors and Nazi collaborators.
Oleksandr Pahiria, an SBU archive staff researcher, told RFE/RL that the UPA had a wide range of international contacts, including with foreign governments.
“The fact that the UPA conducted peace talks with the governments of Hungary and Romania is testimony to the existence of a new phenomenon in the international relationships of the time — insurgent diplomacy,” Pahiria said.
The UPA operated in Ukraine until 1953, when it was defeated by the Soviets.
The SBU is the only security service in the post-Soviet space to completely open its archives to the public.
