He was one of the most steadfast ideologues of the OUN — only such people were taken into the Security Service. In 1943, Yurii Shevchenko, known as the insurgent under the pseudonym “Moriak,” became a political leader, heading what was perhaps the only territory at that time that proclaimed its Ukrainian independence — the Kolky Republic. After the communists’ return, Shevchenko received a new assignment — to become the SB referent in the Pinsk supra-district OUN provid. But “Moriak” was prevented from taking this position by a stray NKVD bullet.

Order to Clear Out

On New Year’s Day 1945, fighters of the 169th Rifle Regiment of the 9th Division of Internal Troops were not resting. Regiment commander Lieutenant Colonel Savchenko authorized the 2nd Rifle Battalion to conduct an operation against Ukrainian insurgents in what was then the Kolky District of Volyn Oblast.

At 10:00 a.m., a detachment of 110 soldiers led by battalion commander Major Dmytro Tauzhnianskyi set out from their garrison in the town of Chartoryisk. The fighters were to sweep the territory, find “bandits,” and destroy them.

At noon, Major Tauzhnianskyi’s men reached the eastern outskirts of the village of Rudka. There, two companies of soldiers separated to surround the village and completely inspect it. Here the first combat contact occurred: on the southern outskirts, the 4th Company spotted an insurgent running toward the Okonka River. He was shot.

Another hour passed before both companies emerged onto the Rudka-Komariv road and headed west toward the Nezhal tract. During movement, the Chekists found human tracks and garbage: bags, a bottle, and remains of slaughtered cattle. This led Major Tauzhnianskyi to think that an insurgent detachment must be somewhere nearby. The assumptions were confirmed: upon reaching the tract, the fighters noticed fire in the southwest direction.

Trap for the Insurgents

Moving further, the detachment emerged into a clearing. There, sniper Nazarenko noticed and shot an insurgent observer who stood at the forest edge, preparing to open fire on the arrivals. Realizing that the sounds of shots must inevitably have alerted the insurgents, the commander divided his detachment into platoons and ordered them to surround the forest. This was meant to cut off the insurgents’ retreat paths.

A group of 14 insurgents fell into the trap. The warriors returned fire, but there was no chance against an enemy with multiple advantages. The NKVD soldiers broke through to the insurgent camp’s location and began shooting opponents at point-blank range.

“The gang leader… firing from a German submachine gun and light machine gun with crew (which guarded him) continued to resist until junior sergeant Zherikhov killed the light machine gunner, and senior sergeant Shtykov with a submachine gun — the gang leader… The remaining bandits were killed by fighters of the 4th and 6th companies,” stated the description of combat actions by subdivisions of the 2nd Battalion of the 169th Regiment.

“Moriak” (Sailor)

After the battle, the Chekists searched the bodies, and from documents seized from the “leader,” they learned that it was Shevchenko Yurii Hryhorovych, born in 1921, resident of the town of Kolky under the pseudonyms “Moriak” and “Roman.”

Almost Shevchenko’s entire career in the OUN passed in Kolky District and adjacent territories. Both under Nazi occupation and after the expulsion of the Germans, he held the position of Kolky District Security Service referent.

The Security Service was the OUN’s counterintelligence organ (and in certain periods — of the UPA), which counteracted the special services of occupying regimes: the Nazi SD and Soviet NKVD, NKGB, and their successors. Given the growing penetration of agents into the liberation movement’s ranks, the SB’s role became increasingly important. In addition, the SB performed police-punitive functions, including against collaborators among the civilian population. Due to the harsh realities of activity, only reliable and most ideologically steadfast workers were taken into the SB.

Unfortunately, little has been preserved from Yurii Shevchenko’s biography. He distinguished himself most as leader of the Kolky Republic. In May 1943, the UPA kurin of Mykola Kovtoniuk-“Oleh” under the leadership of staff chief Stepan Koval-“Rubashenko” expelled the German garrison from Kolky. Thus for the next six months, the town on the Styr River and adjacent villages lived freely, subject only to Ukrainian authority, headed by “Moriak.”

Why specifically the SB referent? The answer was given by his compatriot, former OUN liaison Leonid Martyniuk: “Yurko was a born leader. He had great organizational abilities and experience in work. He, like no one else, knew the liberated territories and political life in them, had a deep orientation in the situation.” Despite his young age, Shevchenko in the 1930s managed to spend time in Polish prison as an OUN liaison. And he was an educated person — he studied in Warsaw. As of the end of 1942, he worked as an employee in a cooperative store in Kolky.

In the Kolky Republic, self-government bodies, schools, a power station, and enterprises operated; UPA hospitals, the “Turiv” military district headquarters, officer and non-commissioned officer schools, and various military courses were located here. The local population received a chance to breathe more freely and see how the OUN members would govern in a future independent state.

Manager and Intelligence Officer

In addition to political leadership, “Moriak” did not forget his direct duties: he created an extensive network of intelligence informants on which the SB was to rely in its work. In the UPA, as in all world intelligence services, women were also involved in agent work. During World War II, they united into a separate “network” of the OUN women’s referentura.

Among “Moriak’s” agents was his beloved Liudmyla Sylych, a former Kyiv resident who was forced to move to Kolky, her father’s small homeland. In December 1942, her parents died from Nazi bombardments, and Yurii supported the girl, orphaned at 17, morally. This is how their relationship began.

Shevchenko’s subordinate in the SB, Oleksandr Nahliuk-“Nyzkyi,” recalled how he recruited him and other UPA candidates in May 1943: “Moriak” told us about the UPA’s tasks. Our army was to fight against the occupiers of Ukraine, that is, against the Germans, Poles, Soviet power, and its Red Army for an Independent Ukraine.”

Heading the insurgent “capital” (as the UPA fighters called the “republic” among themselves) made “Moriak” a notable figure at the local level. Yurii Shevchenko’s surname was listed under No. 1 (as “gendarmerie commandant”) in the list of OUN-UPA members identified by the “Peremozhsti” operational group in 1942-1944. This sabotage-reconnaissance detachment of the USSR NKGB under the command of Colonel Dmytro Medvediev operated in the Tsuman forests southeast of Kolky as a base for the famous intelligence-terrorist Mykola Kuznetsov, who operated under the legend of a German officer in Rivne. Under No. 3 in the same list was indicated Vasyl Yefymchuk — “Moriak’s” deputy.

The Kolky Republic existed until early November 1943. Then German troops conducted a major anti-insurgent operation between the Horyn and Styr rivers, during which they recaptured most settlements. The Luftwaffe bombed Kolky. And then a motorized infantry column from Manevychi and a paratrooper detachment attacked the fire-engulfed town. Detachments of the UPA “Kotlovyna” unit scattered through the forests with losses. About 600 civilians died.

According to the company commander of the “Kotlovyna” unit, “Moriak” with his SB apparatus did not stay in one place. First, he was located in a house near the crossing over the Styr River on the outskirts of Chartoryisk, then on a farmstead of Kulykovychi village, then in Komarove village, nowhere for more than 5-10 days. Eventually, Yurii Shevchenko settled on one of “Zabolotnyi’s farmsteads,” where he remained until the Red Army’s arrival in January 1944.

Behind the front-line units, the repressive organs of the NKVD and NKGB, as well as Internal Troops, came to territories liberated from the Nazis. Yurii Shevchenko quickly appeared in operational reports of the new enemy. According to data held by the Internal Troops NKVD Ukrainian District headquarters on April 20, 1944, “Moriak’s gang” numbered 50 fighters and was deployed near the village of Zarichchia, Kolky District. The same information as of April 30 of the same year is found among the papers of the Ordzhonikidze Division of Internal Troops NKVD headquarters, which was thrown into pacify Volyn Oblast.

Accidental Killing

They tried to get to Yurii Shevchenko through his girlfriend, Liudmyla Sylych, arrested on May 5, 1944. But she provided no specific information about the SB member, who was sentenced in August to 20 years of hard labor, of which she served 11.

In autumn 1944, the NKGB opened an agent case “Ozloblenni” (Embittered) on “Moriak’s” combat unit, in which it accumulated information obtained from informants and during interrogations.

The territory of “Moriak’s” district SB referentura fell under the zone of responsibility of the 169th Rifle Regiment of the 9th Rifle Division. It was precisely in Kolky, as evident from the Internal Troops NKVD documents, that the regimental headquarters was located.

“The districts served by the regiment continue to be affected by banditry, bandit accomplices, deserters, and other counterrevolutionary elements. The most affected by banditry are the northern part of Manevychi District, the southern, southeastern parts of Kolky District […] Part of the local population sympathizes with bandits, helping them with food and clothing, and also maintains communication with them,” characterized the situation in deployment districts in the 169th Regiment’s operational report.

On December 26, 1944, Yurii Shevchenko-“Moriak” was appointed by higher leadership as SB referent of the Pinsk supra-district OUN, which was part of the Brest district. And evidently, Yurii Shevchenko never arrived at his destination. Less than a week later, his life was cut short by a bullet from Senior Sergeant Shtykov, commander of the 3rd section of the 1st platoon of the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion.

As evident from NKVD documents, together with “Moriak” also died his constant deputy “Tesko” — Vasyl Vavrynovych Yefymchuk, also from Kolky.

The destruction of “Moriak’s” combat unit can be considered a successful accident for the Chekists. After all, as stated in the description of combat actions of the 2nd Battalion of the 169th Regiment, the district NKVD department provided no data on the number, armament, and location of insurgents. Major Tauzhnianskyi’s detachment conducted a search operation not knowing whom exactly it was seeking.

The collections of the Internal Troops NKVD Ukrainian District Archive contain documents with information about the death or captivity of many UPA commanders and nationalist underground leaders. Descriptions of Chekist-military operations, operational reports, and lists of liquidated liberation movement participants allow us to clarify and often establish for the first time the exact date, place, and circumstances of death (captivity) of individuals, direct participants from the NKVD side. Publication of these sources gives chances to shed light on the fates of OUN and UPA figures that until now were considered unknown.

The document collection was prepared and published within the framework of the project “Return Exported Archives: Digital Collection of Documents on the USSR’s Struggle Against the Ukrainian Liberation Movement,” implemented by the Center for Research on the Liberation Movement with support from the Nova Ukraine foundation and Ukrainian Cultural Foundation within the framework of the “Cultural Heritage” competition program. The position of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation may not coincide with the position of the project authors.