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The Ukrainian Helsinki Union (Ukrainian: Украї́нська Ге́льсінська спі́лка, romanized: Ukrainska Helsinska spilka, abbreviated UHS) was a political party active in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1988 to 1990. Led by Viacheslav Chornovil and Levko Lukianenko, it was the first non-communist party to be legal in Ukraine following the establishment of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, although it never referred to itself as such for legal reasons.

History

The Ukrainian Helsinki Union was established on 7 July 1988 by Ukrainian Soviet dissident leaders Viacheslav Chornovil, Bohdan Horyn, and Mykhailo Horyn, amidst a meeting of 50,000 people in the west Ukrainian city of Lviv. The meeting followed a series of protests in Lviv and the capital of Kyiv honouring the second anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster which had been cracked down on by the Soviet Ukrainian government. Levko Lukianenko, a longtime dissident, was elected as the party's leader.

The UHS did not formally constitute itself as a party, as leaders feared doing so would provoke a reaction from the Soviet authorities. Despite this, they formulated a political programme, first articulated by Chornovil at the party's founding rally and later repeated at the opening of its Kyiv branch ten days later. The political programme called for Ukrainian independence, the establishment of a confederal union of states comprising the Soviet Union, restoration of autonomy to Crimea and the return of the Crimean Tatars, and reducing the role of the Communist Party. Economically, the UHS sought the introduction of a market economy and financial benefits to the unemployed and impoverished, as well as granting peasants the right to withdraw from membership in collective farms and granting workers the right to establish independent trade unions. The policy of supporting a confederation was one done pragmatically, as Chornovil and the Horyn brothers felt that it would serve to better insulate them against the Soviet government. Despite this, the party came under surveillance from the KGB almost immediately after its founding.

Political differences proved problematic for the UHS almost immediately after its founding. A group of more radical activists (Hryhorii Prykhodko [uk], Vasyl Sichko [uk], Ivan Makar [uk], and Vasyl Ruban [uk]) unsuccessfully attempted to remove the party's executive committee (comprising Chornovil, Mykola Horbal, Mykhailo Horyn, Stepan Khmara, Lukianenko, and Yevhen Proniuk) over the latter's willingness to promote a confederation and their unclear position on how to achieve independence. The former group publicly criticised Lukianenko and other members of the committee during a meeting of dissident organisations in Loodi, Estonia. In response, the executive committee called on regional branches to expel Sichko and Makar, which was later fulfilled. The UHS also maintained contacts with the Polish Solidarity trade union.

The UHS later joined the People's Movement of Ukraine following its establishment. At the party's constituent congress on 29 April 1990 Lukianenko announced his declaration into the Ukrainian Republican Party, which was the first non-Communist party to formally refer to itself as such.

References

1. Sydorenko, Yurii (19 August 2010). "Шанси для націонал-демократії" [Chances for National Democracy]. Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 12 July 2024.
2. ^ Kostiuk, Bohdana (26 October 2018). "Історики до 30-річчя УГС: організація зіграла величезну роль у відновленні Української держави" [Historians on the 30th anniversary of the UHS: the organisation played a great role in the establishment of the Ukrainian state]. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 July 2024.
3. Pipash, Volodymyr (14 March 2020). "Як зруйнувати тоталітарну імперію (із українського «досвіду»)" [How to destroy an empire (from Ukrainian "experience")]. In Derevinskyi, Vasyl (ed.). Чорноволівські читання: Матеріали VI Всеукраїнської наукової конференції [Chornovil Readings: materials of the 6th all-Ukrainian scientific conference] (in Ukrainian). Kyiv: Beskydy. pp. 104–105.
4. ^ Krupnyk, Liuba (15 March 2019). "Роль Вячеслава Чорновола в ході Української національго-демократичної революції кінця 1980-х - 1991 років" [Viacheslav Chornovil's role during the Ukrainian national-democratic revolution of the late 1980s - 1991]. In Derevinskyi, Vasyl (ed.). Чорноволівські читання: Матеріали V Всеукраїнської наукової конференції [Chornovil Readings: materials of the 5th all-Ukrainian scientific conference] (in Ukrainian). Kyiv: Beskydy. pp. 45–46.
5. Kobuta, Stepan (14 March 2020). "Майбутній державно-політичний устрій та система владних відносин в Україні у бачення В.Чорновола у 1988–1991 роках" [The future state-political organisation and system of governing relations in Ukraine in the vision of V. Chornovil, 1988–1991]. In Derevinskyi, Vasyl (ed.). Чорноволівські читання: Матеріали VI Всеукраїнської наукової конференції [Chornovil Readings: materials of the 6th all-Ukrainian scientific conference] (in Ukrainian). Kyiv: Beskydy. pp. 36–37.
6. ^ Shevchenko, Oles (6 November 2006). "Українська Гельсінська Спілка" [Ukrainian Helsinki Union]. Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 July 2024.
7. Kipiani, Vakhtang (25 April 2011). "Українська Гельсінська Спілка: політичні дискусії та долі лідерів" [The Ukrainian Helsinki Union: political discussions and the fate of its leaders]. Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 July 2024.
8. Kupriiets, Anastasiia (29 January 2024). "Історикиня Любов Крупник: Співпрпаця Української Гельсінської Спілки та польської «Солідарності» стала каталізатором розпаду СРСР" [Historian Liubov Krupnyk: Cooperation of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union and Polish Solidarity became a catalyst for the separation of the USSR]. Polskie Radio (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 July 2024.
9. Kuybida, Vasyl (23 October 2018). "Українська Гельсінська спілка: історичні звершення та нереалізовані цілі" [Ukrainian Helsinki Union: historical achievements and unrealised goals]. LB.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 July 2024.
10. "Українська республіканська партія" [Ukrainian Republican Party]. Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (in Ukrainian). 6 November 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2024.

• 1988 establishments in the Soviet Union
• 1990 disestablishments in the Soviet Union
• 1988 establishments in Ukraine
• 1990 disestablishments in Ukraine
• National Democratic parties in Ukraine
• Political parties established in 1988
• Political parties disestablished in 1990
• Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union
• Political parties in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic