The Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People's Self-Defence (, УНА-УНСО, UNA-UNSO) was a

Ukrainian nationalist Ukrainian nationalism (, ) is the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The origins of modern Ukrainian nationalism emerge during the Cossack uprising against the Poli ...

organisation. It was composed by a

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

wing (the Ukrainian National Assembly – UNA) and a

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

wing (Ukrainian People's Self-Defence – UNSO). According to

Andreas Umland Andreas Umland (born 1967) is a German political scientist studying contemporary Russian and Ukrainian history as well as regime transitions. He has published on the post-Soviet extreme right, municipal decentralization, European fascism, post- ...

and Anton Shekhovtsov, the UNA-UNSO was created in 1991 as a "formation manned by UNA members who had served in the Soviet armed forces ... to confront the

State Committee on the State of Emergency State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

". The UNA-UNSO has been described by international security expert Andrew McGregor as a "influential but fringe movement", which deeply influenced

far-right politics in Ukraine During Ukraine's post-Soviet history, the far-right has remained on the political periphery and been largely excluded from national politics since independence in 1991.Melanie Mierzejewski-Voznyak: ''The Radical Right in Post-Soviet Ukraine''. In: ...

due its visibility and militancy, although it still had small numbers. Although the Ukrainian National Assembly (, UNA) was the organisation's

wing, on 22 May 2014 it merged with

Right Sector Right Sector () is a loosely defined coalition of right-wing to far-right Ukrainian nationalist organizations. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several ultranationalist organizations at the Euroma ...

;Right Sector registered as official party

Interfax-Ukraine Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The company owns a 50-seat press centre. The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022) ...

(22 May 2014) the UNSO continues to operate independently. The UNSO has participated in multiple international conflicts by sending volunteers to support various belligerents. Including the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

Transnistria War The Transnistria War (; ) was an armed conflict that broke out on 2 November 1990 in Dubăsari between pro-Transnistria (Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, PMR) forces, including the Transnistrian Republican Guard, militia and neo-Cossack unit ...

, the

War in Abkhazia War in Abkhazia may refer to: *War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) The War in Abkhazia was fought between Georgian government and paramilitary forces, and a coalition of Abkhaz separatist forces and North Caucasian militants between 1992 and 1993 ...

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the invading Russia, Russian Federation from 1994 to 1996. After a mutually agreed on treaty ...

, the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

and the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

History

Early years

The UNA was created on 30 June 1990 in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

as the Ukrainian Interparty Assembly (UMA). On 3–4 November 1990, a congress of the Ukrainian National Association (UNS) was held in Kyiv. On 11 January 1991, UNS squads headed by Yuriy Tyma guarded the

Seimas Palace Seimas Palace () is the seat of the Seimas, the Lithuanian parliament. It is located in Lithuania's capital Vilnius. History The decision to build a seat for the Supreme Soviet of Lithuanian SSR was made in 1969. The location of the Youth F ...

during the

January Events The January Events () were a series of violent confrontations between the civilian population of Lithuania, supporting independence, and the Soviet Armed Forces. The events took place between 11 and 13 January 1991, after the Act of the Re-Esta ...

in Lithuania. On 30 June 1991, about 200 UNS members held a torchlight parade in Lviv commemorating the 1941 declaration of Ukrainian independence. During the first days of the

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to Coup d'état, forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President ...

, a UNS squad led by

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veteran Valeriy Bobrovych left for

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

; the squad later laid the foundations for the Argo battalion. On 19 August 1991, during the struggle against the

, the UNS created squads of the Ukrainian People's Self-Defense (UNSO) in Kyiv. The squads were formed around a small group of ethnic-Ukrainian Soviet army veterans of the

war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

. In December 1990

Yuriy Shukhevych Yurii-Bohdan Romanovych Shukhevych (, 28 March 1933 – 22 November 2022) was a Ukrainian far-right politician. A member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, he was a political prisoner and the son of Roman Shukhevych. He was a long-serving leader o ...

, the son of

Roman Shukhevych Roman-Taras Osypovych Shukhevych (, also known by his pseudonym, Tur and Taras Chuprynka; 30 June 1907 – 5 March 1950) was a Ukrainian nationalism, Ukrainian nationalist and a military leader of the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) ...

, was elected as the first leader of the UNS. Because of the 8 September 1991

Declaration of Independence of Ukraine The Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR (''Verkhovna Rada'') on 24 August 1991. Since its 1991 independence, Ukraine has had separatist movements aiming to reunite portions of Ukraine with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and other neighbouring countries. UNA-UNSO stopped People's Deputy Goncharov of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

from reestablishing the

Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic The Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic or Donetsk–Kryvyi Rih Soviet Republic (; ) was a self-declared Soviet republic of the Russian SFSR proclaimed on 12 February 1918. It was founded three days after the government of the Ukrainian Peop ...

and the Donetsk National Guard in the

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

. In Kyiv, the Patriotic Forum (''Otyechestvyennyi forum'') was abolished. In November 1991 the UNSO held a rally, and due to a brawl involving UNSO fighters the government made the first mass arrests of UNSO activists. In

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

UNSO halted an initiative to create a Novorossiysk Republic, influencing separatist movements in Bukovina and Zakarpattia. On 7 June 1992, an UNSO group from Lviv broke up a Romanian congress in

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

which advocated the unification of northern

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. In early 1993, the UNSO had a reported 4,000 members.

Since 1994

The UNA was registered as a political party in December 1994, and in the

1994 Ukrainian parliamentary election The year 1994 was designated as the "International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Charter, Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 ...

three UNA-UNSO members were elected as deputies to the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(Ukrainian parliament). In September 1995, its registration was suspended until 1997. UNSO was registered as a public organization in

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

, Rivne Oblast, Rivne and Poltava Oblasts only. In practise, however, there was no distinction between the membership of both organizations. From 1994 to 1997, UNA-UNSO members became prominent in Ukraine through a number of anti-Russian activities. UNA-UNSO deputies destroyed a Russian flag in the Verkhovna Rada, UNA-UNSO fighters joined Chechen rebels in the

and activists organised demonstrations against Russian pop singers visiting Ukraine. UNA-UNSO took sides in Ukrainian church affairs and clashed with police during the July 1995 funeral of Volodymyr (Romaniuk), Patriarch Volodomyr, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate. The organisations supported Filaret (Denysenko), Patriarch Filaret Denysenko, who was excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church, and participated in violent attempts to seize property for the new church (particularly in Rivne and Volyn Oblasts). Membership peaked at around 10,000 members, about 90 percent of whom were between 18 and 35 years old. The organisation was depicted in Georgiy Gongadze's 1994 documentary film, ''Shadows of War''. In 1997, the government of Leonid Kuchma banned the Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defence. UNA-UNSO members responded with violent street protests, resulting in over 250 arrests. Dmytro Korchynsky, one of those arrested, soon left the organisation. In 1998, UNA-UNSO's new leaders were Andriy Shkil and

, the son of Ukrainian nationalist

. In the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the organisation received 0.39 percent of the vote.Українська національна Ассамблея
Database DATA Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian Nationalistic Self Defense members participated in the 2000–01 Ukraine without Kuchma protest campaign. In the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002 parliamentary elections Andriy Shkil won an electoral district in Lviv Oblast and a seat in the Verkhovna Rada, the party itself won 0.04% of the votes. In 2003 Shkil left the party, and he has become an aide to Yulia Tymoshenko. During the Orange Revolution UNA-UNSO members supported Viktor Yushchenko against his pro-Russian opponents, providing security for Yushchenko supporters and Orange leaders such as Yulia Tymoshenko in Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Independence Square. Six Ukrainians fought on the side of Yugoslavia in the Battle of Koshare. The commander of the volunteers was Andriy Biletsky, and he was also the one who led the volunteers into war. In 2005,

again became the party's leader. In the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006 parliamentary election, it failed to win parliamentary representation with 0.06 percent of the vote and did not participate in the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007 election. In 2008, South Ossetian attorney general Teimuraz Khugayev accused UNA-UNSO of joining a Georgian unit during the Russo-Georgian War, August war, but no evidence has been provided. According to an August 2009 Russian Investigative Committee report, 200 UNA-UNSO members and soldiers from the Ukrainian Ground Forces aided Georgia during the fighting. Ukraine denied the accusation. UNA-UNSO deputy head Mykola Karpyuk said that "unfortunately", no organisation members took part in the Georgia (country), Georgian conflict. UNA-UNSO participated in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election,Відомості щодо реєстрації виборчих списків кандидатів у депутати ''Information on the registration of electoral lists of candidates''
Central Election Commission of Ukraine receiving 0.08 percent of the national vote and winning none of the five electoral districts in which they fielded candidates.) and thus failed to win parliamentary representation.Proportional votes

, Central Election Commission of Ukraine In March 2014,

brought a criminal case against the party and some of its members, including party leader Oleh Tyahnybok of Svoboda (political party), Svoboda, for "organizing an armed gang" which allegedly fought the Russian 76th Guards Air Assault Division during the first Chechen war. The organisation's Ukrainian National Assembly political wing merged with

on 22 May 2014.

Leaders

* 1990–1994

* 1994–1999 Oleh Vitovych * 2002–? Andriy Shkil * 2005–?

* 2015–2016 Kostiantyn Fushtei * 2016–? Valeriy Bobrovych

International conflicts

in Moscow (summer 1991) *

in Moldova (spring–summer 1992) *

(1992–93) * Georgian Civil War (1991-93) * Croatian War of Independence (1991-95) * Bosnian War (1992-95) * First Nagorno-Karabakh War, First Karabakh war (1988–94) *

in Russia (1995–96) * Kosovo War in Yugoslavia (1998–99) *

(2014–present)

Transnistria

During the Transnistria War, UNA-UNSO members fought with Transnistrian separatists against Moldovan government forces, purportedly in defence of Transnistria's large ethnic Ukrainian minority.The radical right in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989
by Sabrina Ramet, Pennsylvania University Press. 1999 (page 290 and continuing from there) Over 50 UNSO members were awarded the Defender of Transnistria Order.

Georgian civil war

In 1993, UNA-UNSO sent volunteers to the Abkhaz–Georgian conflict against Abkhaz separatists. The UNA-UNSO Argo unit joined the Georgia (country), Georgian side against Russian-backed Abkhaz forces, and some volunteers joined the Sokhumi Battalion of the Marine Infantry Forces of Georgia. A CPT Ustym squad prevented an amphibious assault of Russian forces near Sokhumi, sinking a Russian military motorboat. Seven UNSO members died near Sokhumi, and 30 members received the Order of Vakhtang I of Iberia#Memory, Vakhtang Gorgasali medal. The UNA-UNSO units did not lose a battle in the civil war. * Sokhumi raid (June 1993) * Starushkino village ambush (15 July 1993) * Shromi village assault (17 July 1993) * Khomi defence (4 October 1993) * Samtredia defence (17 October 1993)

Russo-Ukrainian War

UNSO had also fought in the

as part of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps and the Territorial defence battalions (Ukraine), Territorial defence battalions 131st Separate Reconnaissance Battalion "UNSO", 1st Recon Company UNSO and 55th UNSO Battalion. Members of the brigade have participated in the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022 invasion.

Ideology and image

The Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People's Self-Defence 1994 party platform envisioned Kyiv as the centre of a new, pan-Slavic, eastern military bloc. International security expert Andrew McGregor said in 2006 that the UNA-UNSO "might be best characterized as an influential fringe movement" and "its high visibility belies its limited numbers." Its anthem is "Stay, my love, don't cry, honey", a reprise of "Bella ciao".УНСО
YouTube

Elections

UNA-UNSO parliamentarians

* Yuriy Tyma * Andriy Shkil

References

External links

UNA-UNSO Official party web pageUNA-UNSO Official party blog in VK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ukrainian National Assembly - Ukrainian National Self Defence Anti-communism in Ukraine Anti-communist parties Far-right political parties in Ukraine Anti-Russian sentiment Anti-Romanian sentiment Antisemitism in Ukraine Euromaidan Guerrilla organizations Resistance movements Defunct political parties in Ukraine Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union Political parties established in 1990 Political parties disestablished in 2014 1990 establishments in Ukraine 2014 disestablishments in Ukraine Paramilitary organizations based in Ukraine Institutions with the title of National in Ukraine Political parties in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic