Stalling Democratic Reforms and Countering the People's Movement (Rukh) (1989–1990)
The conservative party apparatus under the leadership of V. Shcherbytsky attempted to contain the growth of the national liberation movement. Because of KGB pressure and the threat of an immediate ban, the founders of the Ukrainian independence movement were initially forced to disguise their goals, naming the organization the "People's Movement of Ukraine for Perestroika": "at first it supported the official course of perestroika, without formally raising the demand of Ukraine's independence," and its program "lacked the demand for a new union treaty and contained a formal provision recognizing the 'guiding role' of the communist party"[1]. Only in 1990, having proclaimed that "what is needed is not perestroika but the complete dismantling of the totalitarian system," did Rukh remove the words "for perestroika" from its name[1].
Actors
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0012 | Occupation and Controlled Administrations | 1 |
| S0024 | Police Apparatus | 1 |
| S0017 | Secret Police and Security Services | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
The use of brute force by party activists against Rukh activists: when Rukh members attempted to install a cross on the grave of those executed near Bazar, "the activists were not allowed into the village" "with the help of KGB men and provocations about the Rukh members' 'Banderite' intentions"; some participants "were dragged out of the car, beaten, and the flags were torn to shreds," while the role of "protesting peasants" was played by men in disguise: "in reality these were communist party activists from nearby districts"[2]. The political prisoner Vasyl Ovsienko ended up in the hospital: "the communists thrashed me near Bazar on November 17"[3].
The forcible neutralization of movement activists at the hands of the security structures and party apparatus: the dispersal of commemorative actions with beatings ("dragged out of the car, beaten") with the participation of the KGB and the militia[2], the hospitalization of the beaten political prisoner Vasyl Ovsienko[3], and the death of Rukh member Yevhen Melenivsky - after a "conversation" at the regional MVD directorate he "died on his way home"[4], and later - the law enforcement bodies' demonstrative disinterest in solving crimes against Rukh functionaries: they "demonstratively displayed disinterest in solving the crime"[5].
The forced disappearance of a key functionary of the movement: "on the night of January 15–16, 1994, two armed unknown men burst into the NRU secretariat in Kyiv, took some documents, and searched for Boichyshyn" - Mykhailo Boichyshyn, head of the Rukh secretariat, was never seen again. The investigation was sabotaged: law enforcement "at first was in no hurry to accept the report of the politician's disappearance, and then demonstratively displayed disinterest in solving the crime," and "the investigators were interested not so much in the circumstances of the attack on the Secretariat and Boichyshyn's disappearance as in the party's financing"[5].
References
- Редкол.: В. А. Смолій (голова) та ін. НАН України. Інститут історії України. (2010). Енциклопедія історії України: Т. 7.
- MALYN.MEDIA. (2023). Брав участь у спробі вшанувати Героїв Базару (MALYN.MEDIA).
- Василь Овсієнко / Харківська правозахисна група. (2011). Інтерв'ю Василя Овсієнка (Музей дисидентського руху).