1972–1973 Ukrainian purge

1972–1973 purge of Ukrainian intelligentsia and society by the Communist Party May 2024 1972–1973 Ukrainian purge the Brezhnev era and the Russification of Ukraine Спеціальне повідомлення «про початок операції "Блок"».jpg Ukrainian KGB resolution signed by Petro Shelest confirming the start of Operation Bloc, 13 January 1972 12 January 1972 – 1973 Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union(primarily Kyiv and Lviv) Operation Bloc Anti-Ukrainian sentiment, opposition to Ukrainian national expression Ukrainian Soviet dissidents, Kharkiv Clan (Petro Shelest) Dnipropetrovsk Mafia (Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, Leonid Brezhnev), KGB * Shelest removed from power Most Ukrainian dissidents arrested Ukrainian dissident movement pushed underground Between 1.5% and nearly 5% of Communist Party of Ukraine members removed from the party Disputed; 87 – "thousands" 193 From 12 January 1972 to 1973, a wide-reaching purge of Ukrainian society and intelligentsia was organised by Leonid Brezhnev and the KGB. Codenamed Operation Bloc (ru Операция «Блок» Operatsiya «Blok»; uk Операція «Блок» Operatsiia «Blok»), the purge resulted in the arrest of 193 people, including most of the leaders of the Ukrainian dissident movement, as well as the removal of Petro Shelest and the installation of Volodymyr Shcherbytsky as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Background The 1965–1966 Ukrainian purge, aimed against the counter-culture Sixtiers, largely failed in its intention of bringing the Ukrainian dissident movement to submission. Instead, it resulted in the further politicisation of Ukrainian dissidents from their previous position of supporting greater self-expression into a movement for greater Ukrainian autonomy under the Soviet Union.8 November 2006 Arrests of the Ukrainian intelligentsia, 1965 https://museum.khpg.org/1162994453 14 May 2024 Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group Some of those arrested, such as Viacheslav Chornovil, had emerged as leading figures of the strengthened dissident movement since the purge.Kurlander David 14 March 2022 'Like a Cold Serpent': Vyacheslav Chornovil and Cold War Ukrainian Dissidence https://cafe.com/article/like-a-cold-serpent-vyacheslav-chornovil-and-cold-war-ukrainian-dissidence/ 14 May 2024 CAFE Palace intrigues additionally drove the purge; Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's Dnipropetrovsk Mafia, a group of politicians from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, was opposed to the Kharkiv Clan of Petro Shelest, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine (as well as the smaller Donetsk Clan).October 1977 Shcherbitsky's Struggle To Dominate The Ukraine: Implications for Kremlin Politics Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Intelligence 3, 9 Shelest's greater tolerance for Ukrainian national expression proved intolerable to Brezhnev,Markus Vasyl Senkus Roman 2007 Shelest, Petro https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CS%5CH%5CShelestPetro.htm 15 May 2024 Encyclopedia of Ukraine and moves began being made to dampen his authority. In 1970 Vitaly Fedorchuk left the central KGB apparatus to become its director in Ukraine. Prelude Between 1967 and 1971, 87 people in the Ukrainian SSR had been condemned for production and spread of "anti-Soviet literature". Increase in such activities alarmed the republican KGB leadership. Based on a previous report by the security service, on 27 July 1971 Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine adopted a motion aimed at stopping the spread of "politically damaging materials". Around the same time, KGB started developing the plan of Operation Bloc in order to implement that decision. Following a meeting of KGB leadership with heads of republican security organs in Moscow in November 1971, KGB of the Ukrainian SSR received an instruction to document dissident activities in order to gather evidence and provide a base for criminal persecution of pro-democracy activists. Dobosh affair Prior to the execution of Operation Bloc, Belgian foreign student Yaroslav Dobosh, a member of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists in exile, was dispatched at the recommendation of Omelian Koval uk Коваль Омелян Васильович and the blessing of cardinal Josyf Slipyj to the Soviet Union on a mission to acquire samvydav. This material was intended to later be released for open publication outside of the Eastern Bloc.Antoniuk Yaroslav M. 16 March 2019 "Dobosh Case": the biggest failure of ZCh OUN security services in resistance to KGB apparatus https://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/bitstream-download/123456789/74829/1/Antoniuk_shaj_32_2019.pdf;jsessionid=84A5D96217E89C90F44B3955FE8566EE Sumy Historical-Archival Journal 32 22 Dovbosh first travelled to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, where he met dissidents Zynoviia Franko, Ivan Svitlychnyi, and Leonid Selezenko, who gave him a roll of camera film containing photographs of Sviatoslav Karavanskyi's Dictionary of Rhymes in the Ukrainian Language and a copy of The Ukrainian Herald. On 2 January 1972 Dobosh left Kyiv for the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. There, he met Stefania Hulyk-Hnatenko on the street and held a conversation with her. At this time, Dobosh was under constant surveillance by the KGB. His hotel room was bugged, and he was photographed several times during his time in the city. Two days later, he began travelling south, intending to cross over the border in Zakarpattia Oblast. The KGB, fearful that he would bring samvydav or military secrets over to the west, determined that it was necessary to intercept him.Tsalyk Stanislav 25 January 2022 Операція "Блок". Як КДБ розгромив українських шістдесятників і самвидав Operation Bloc: How the KGB destroyed Ukrainian sixtiers and samvydav https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/blogs-60124809 15 May 2024 BBC uk Following a stop at the Chop border station that occurred smoothly, the train was again stopped after a kilometre, and Dobosh was taken by four individuals (two civilian and two military). Under the pretext that his visa had been incorrectly stamped, he was taken into detention. During his detention, eight rolls of film including Karavanskyi's Dictionary of Rhymes in the Ukrainian Language and photos of dissidents Vasyl Stus and Valentyn Moroz were found, in addition to books that KGB officers incorrectly believed to be samvydav (including a tourist brochure of Saint Andrew's Church in Kyiv). Under interrogation, Dobosh admitted his membership in the OUN and the Ukrainian Youth Association, as well as the fact that Koval had sent him to the Soviet Union. This provided the basis to execute Operation Bloc. Purge On the eve of the purge, leading Ukrainian dissidents gathered in the Lviv flat of Olena AntonivCherkaska Hanna 6 April 2021 Олена Антонів, або ангел дисидентів Olena Antoniv, or angel of dissidents https://photo-lviv.in.ua/olena-antoniv-abo-anhel-dysydentiv/ 15 May 2024 Photos of Old Lviv uk to hold a Vertep (nativity play) ceremony for the holiday of Koliada. The celebration quickly grew into a protest against Soviet state atheism. Those present were all arrested within the next three days;Hrytsiv Mariia 12 January 2011 Арештована коляда, або Погром 12 січня 1972-го The arrested koliada, or the pogrom of 12 January 1972 https://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2011/01/12/13866/ 15 May 2024 Ukrainska Pravda uk Vasyl Stus in Kyiv and Iryna Kalynets and Stefaniia Shabatura in Lviv. The arrests of Viacheslav Chornovil, Mykhaylo Osadchy, and Ivan Gel soon followed.Kotubei-Herutska Olesia 12 January 2023 Операція "Блок": Як КДБ полював на дисидентів і арештовував за коляду Operation Bloc: How the KGB hunted dissidents and arrested them for Koliada https://suspilne.media/culture/196798-50-rokiv-operacii-blok-ak-kdb-poluvav-na-disidentiv-i-arestovuvav-za-koladu/ 15 May 2024 Suspilne Kultura uk Simultaneously with those in Lviv, Koliada celebrations also took place in Kyiv. These had been discovered in advance by the KGB, which, fearing that the celebrations could grow to encompass several parts of the city, arrested the organisers between 12 and 14 January: Ivan Svitlychnyi, Yevhen Sverstiuk, Leonid Plyushch, Mykola Plakhotniuk uk Плахотнюк Микола Григорович, Zinovii Antoniuk uk Антонюк Зиновій Павлович, Oleksandr Serhiienko uk Сергієнко Олександр Федорович, and Ivan Kovalenko (dissident) Ivan Kovalenko uk Коваленко Іван Юхимович. On 13 January Shelest formally gave the order to begin Operation Bloc. After three days, over 20 of Ukraine's leading dissidents had been arrested in the cities of Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa. They would all eventually be sentenced to seven years of hard labour and between three and five years of exile. Dobosh was deported from the Soviet Union to Belgium, where he renounced the claims made during interrogation.Khotsianivska Alla 12 January 2022 50 років тому радянська влада розпочала репресії проти української інтелігенції: подробиці великого погрому 50 years ago the Soviet government began repressions against Ukrainian intelligentsia: Details of a great pogrom https://tsn.ua/exclusive/50-rokiv-tomu-radyanska-vlada-rozpochala-represiyi-proti-ukrayinskoyi-inteligenciyi-podrobici-velikogo-pogromu-1952017.html 15 May 2024 Television Service of News uk Ukrainian intelligentsia that had evaded arrest responded swiftly, and negatively, to the purge. Philosopher Vasyl Lisovyi uk Лісовий Василь Семенович wrote an open letter protesting the arrests, and was subsequently arrested himself. The authorities continued their purges by claiming that Ukrainian dissidents were nationalists in cahoots with the Zionist and refusenik movements, publishing widespread anti-Zionist propaganda during the early stages of the purges.Brumberg Abraham Abraham Brumberg 13 March 1972 Ukraine's law-abiding dissidents https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/23/ukraine-law-abiding-dissidents-russia-archive-1972 15 May 2024 The Guardian Shelest's removal Shortly after the first arrests, the central party apparatus began to target the leadership of the Communist Party. A removal of Shelest as First Secretary was out of the question; he had broad support from the secretaries of all the oblasts of Ukraine aside from Donetsk (Volodymyr Dehtiariov uk Дегтярьов Володимир Іванович), Dnipropetrovsk (Oleksiy Vatchenko), and Ivano-Frankivsk (Viktor Dobryk uk Добрик Віктор Федорович) oblasts. Further complicating matters, Shelest had the support of the leaders of other union republics, such as Ivan Bodiul of Moldavia or Vasil Mzhavanadze of Georgia.12 January 2022 Генеральний погром The general pogrom https://zbruc.eu/node/109870 15 May 2024 Zbruč uk The party called Shelest to Moscow to attend meetings of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. There, he was subjected to constant pressure from other members for "narrow-mindedness" and being overly concerned with Ukrainians and told that he would become Deputy Premier. At the same meeting, Brezhnev told Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Ukraine Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, leader of the party opposition to Shelest, "get ready to be First Secretary." Following the meeting, Shelest told his advisers, "it's all over." The public reason for Shelest's removal was initially stated to be health.http://fialkov.multima.net/books/Dolya-pravdy/raw-text/index.html Юрий Яковлевич Фиалков — "Доля правды" Yury Yakovlevich Fialkov - "A share of truth" 2 February 2014 15 May 2024 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20140202093703/http://fialkov.multima.net/books/Dolya-pravdy/raw-text/index.html 2 February 2014 ru Kremlinologists in the West initially believed that Shelest's hardline foreign policy positions, such as his opposition to a planned visit by U.S. President Richard Nixon, had caused his removal. However, public shaming of Shelest, such as a public attack by Shcherbytsky in April 1973 and a highly-critical review of Shelest's 1970 book O, Ukraine, Our Soviet Land that complained it would encourage Ukrainian nationalism, later made clear that Shelest's removal was part of a broader suppression of Ukrainian culture.Tillett Lowell Ukrainian Nationalism and the Fall of Shelest Slavic Review December 1975 34 4 752–768 10.2307/2495726 2495726 164168281 free Escalation and party purge Now First Secretary, Shcherbytsky dramatically increased the scope of the arrests, with thousands of detentions and searches according to historian James MaceMace James 1993 Purges https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CP%5CU%5CPurges.htm 15 May 2024 Encyclopedia of Ukraine (though this is disputed by Ukrainian historian Oleh Bazhan uk Бажан Олег Григорович, who states that only 87 were arrested).Shurkhalo Dmytro 11 January 2022 50-річчя операції КДБ "Блок": арешт в Україні близько 90 дисидентів 50th anniversary of KGB operation Bloc: nearly 90 dissidents' arrests in Ukraine https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/kdb-operatsiya-blok/31648911.html 15 May 2024 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty uk Educational institutions were purged. He also launched a purge targeting members of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Shelest's rule had led to a significant increase in party membership, particularly in traditionally nationally conscious western Ukraine. Valentyn Malanchuk uk Маланчук Валентин Юхимович, formerly a party worker in Lviv Oblast, was appointed party secretary for ideology in December 1972. As a result of party purges conducted by Shcherbytsky and Malanchuk, at least 1.5% and as much as almost 5% of the party's total membership was purged by 1974.Ukraine under Shcherbytsky https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/Ukraine-under-Shcherbytsky 15 May 2024 Encyclopædia Britannica Members of the Kharkiv Clan distanced themselves from Shelest, publicly denouncing him, although they never regained their former strength.October 1977 Shcherbitsky's Struggle To Dominate The Ukraine: Implications for Kremlin Politics Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Intelligence 10 Effects In his article published in the underground newspaper The Ukrainian Herald, Stepan Khmara characterized the KGB action as a "general pogrom".Генеральний погром 2022-01-12 https://zbruc.eu/node/109870 2026-10-10 As a result of the purge, Ukraine's intelligentsia was fully forced underground. Even among those who were not arrested, an oppressive attitude and constant surveillance remained over them, and many were forced to either live in exile (such as Lina Kostenko, Mykhailyna Kotsiubynska, Valeriy Shevchuk, Les Tanyuk, and Pavlo Movchan) or publicly express support for the Soviet government (as was the case with Ivan Drach and Dmytro Pavlychko).Lukianiuk Volodymyr 11 January 2017 Операція "Блок" Operation Bloc https://www.jnsm.com.ua/h/0112P/ 15 May 2024 This Day in History uk Publication of samvydav, as well as the traditions of Koliady, were brought to a halt as a result of the purge. It would take until the late 1970s, with the emergence of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, for the dissident movement to regain its strength. Operation Bloc continued to exist following the purge itself as a psychological warfare campaign against dissidents. Individuals monitored were subject to constant surveillance, with efforts being made to establish a fear of informants among both those subject to imprisonment and those who avoided arrest. References Ukrainian purge Ukrainian purge Ukrainian purge Ukrainian purge Ukrainian purge Ukrainian purge Category:Leonid Brezhnev Category:Persecution of dissidents in the Soviet Union Category:Persecution of intellectuals in the Soviet Union Category:Political imprisonment in the Soviet Union Category:Russification Category:Political repression in Ukraine Category:KGB operations