During the lifetime of the USSR, Ukrainian culture and national identity were subjected to brutal oppression by the Soviet authorities, and especially by the USSR State Security Committee (KGB). This special service was the main instrument of political control and repression, carrying out large-scale operations to discredit, persecute and destroy Ukrainian patriots, intellectuals and activists of the national liberation movement.
Particular attention in this context is drawn to the fate of Ulas Samchuk, one of the most famous Ukrainian writers of the 20th century, whom the Soviet secret services tried to discredit and stop on the path to world recognition. The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine recently declassified a small handful of documents that reveal the truth about the information operations of the Soviet KGB, directed against eminent Ukrainian writer and nationalist Ulas Samchuk.
In July 1980, the KGB launched a special operation to prevent Samchuk from being nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. A KGB resident in Ottawa reported that Ukrainian émigré circles and Sovremennik magazine had launched a campaign to nominate the writer for the prestigious award.
The KGB of the Ukrainian SSR pulled out all of its archival materials on Samchuk, focusing especially on the period 1941-1943, when he edited the newspaper “Volyn” in Rivne. However, the results of the “investigation” were unexpected – no incriminating information was found. Moreover, the documents showed that Samchuk was actually arrested by the Nazis in 1943 for speaking out against German policy towards Ukraine.
Ulas Samchuk was not just a writer – he was a member of the Ukrainian People’s Republic [UPR] government in exile, one of the initiators of the World Congress of Ukrainians, the author of books about the Holodomor of 1932-1933, and the Soviet GULAG system. His story “Maria” (1934) was the first work of fiction about the Holodomor. The KGB resident noted that the work of the author of the trilogies “Volyn” and “Ost” was compared by nationalists to the works of Solzhenitsyn in terms of the subject matter and the epic nature of the depiction of events under Russian imperialism.
Despite the lack of compromising materials, the KGB launched an international operation. It was planned to involve Soviet agent “Herbert” from the USA to distribute materials through American and Canadian media. In Ukraine, publications were prepared with subsequent reprinting in the newspaper “Vesti iz Ukrainy” [News from Ukraine]. Archival documents confirm that such articles were published in November 1980 in the newspaper “Selskie Vesti” and in the American newspaper “Ukrainskie Vesti.”
Officially, Samchuk was denied the Nobel Prize “due to a lack of translations and promotion.” However, declassified documents from the SVR of Ukraine indicate the active participation of the KGB in the affair.
As it turns out, during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, Samchuk’s works were removed from the compulsory school curriculum by decision of the then Minister of Education Dmytro Tabachnyk. In 2021, following a lawsuit by Andriy Portnov, the Kyiv District Administrative Court banned official events in honor of the writer. Now, however, thanks to declassified SVR documents, it is becoming clear that these actions have deep roots – in Soviet special operations by the KGB.
Declassified documents from the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service show that the fight against Samchuk was part of a large-scale KGB information operation against Ukrainian heritage and national identity. This special operation is a vivid example of how the Soviet secret services used disinformation and repression to destroy the influence of Ukrainian patriots on the world stage.
The materials below consist of translations of three documents. The first is a Secret July 1980 telegram sent from the residentura in Ottawa to the Ukrainian SSR KGB, relating the fact that a campaign to nominate Samchuk for that year’s Nobel Prize in Literature would soon be underway. In the eyes of the hardliners, Samchuk was a rabid anti-Soviet writer who used his pen to spread nationalist views that glorified Ukraine’s culture and heritage. This simply would not do.
The second translation is the second page of a two-page report, submitted shortly after the first, from General-Major Ivanov from the First Main Directorate (PGU) of the KGB, Service A. The addressee of this document is unknown. The document suggests that the KGB elements should ignore the Nobel aspect, and concentrate on digging for and spreading compromising material on Samchuk.
The third translation is a Top Secret excerpt from an intelligence report filed in April 1944 on Samchuk’s activities, revealed by Soviet agent “Mstislav” who, as it turns out, is also a published author and one of Samchuk’s associates.
FROM MOSCOW NR 479138 SECRET
KYIV KGB UKSSR COMRADE V.YE. MYAKUSHKO
THIS TELEGRAM IS BEING SENT FROM OTTAWA AT THE INSTRUCTION OF COMRADE KIREYEV:
MELNYKITE NATIONALIST CIRCLES, AS WELL AS THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE ANTI-SOVIET ÉMIGRÉ MAGAZINE SOVREMENNIK (PUBLISHED IN TORONTO SINCE 1960) HAVE BEGUN A CAMPAIGN TO NOMINATE A MEMBER OF THE SOVREMENNIK EDITORIAL BOARD, ULAS SAMCHUK, FOR THE 1980 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE. BEING CALLED UPON TO SUPPORT THIS ARE THE SKVU [WORLD CONGRESS OF FREE UKRAINIANS] HERITAGE COUNCIL, THE UKRAINIAN WRITERS UNION “SLOVO” AND “PEN-KLUB,” AND COUNTRIES WHERE UKRAINIAN ÉMIGRÉS HAVE SETTLED.
THE “BODY OF WORK” OF SAMCHUK, THE AUTHOR OF THE ANTI-SOVIET TRILOGIES “VOLYN” AND “OST,” IS CHARACTERIZED BY NATIONALISTS AS IN NO WAY INFERIOR TO SOLZHENITSYN’S OUTPUT, IN TERMS OF THEME AND GRAND SCALE OF THE DEPICTION OF EVENTS AND PEOPLE UNDER RUSSIAN IMPERIALISM AND THE COMMUNIST REGIME.
ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO US, SAMCHUK WAS BORN IN THE VILLAGE OF DERMAN (UKRAINE) IN 1905. HE GRADUATED THE “UKRAINE FREE UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE (1929-1932). SINCE 1928, REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE 10 MAIN UKRAINIAN MAGAZINES PUBLISHED IN UKRAINE AND ABROAD, INCLUDING RAZBUDOVA NATSIYA (1930-1938), VISNIK (LVIV) FROM 1933 TO 1939, DZVONI 1933-1939, AND SOVREMENNIK FROM 1962 TO THE PRESENT TIME.
SAMCHUK, AS THE AUTHOR OF 17 NOVELS, IS A MEMBER OF THE “UKRAINIAN FREE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE,” A MEMBER OF THE “INTERNATIONAL PEN KLUB,” HONORARY MEMBER OF THE “UKRAINIAN WRITERS ASSOCIATION ABROAD,” AND A MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF UKRAINIAN WRITERS IN CANADA – “SLOVO.”
CANADIAN CITIZEN SINCE 1956. DURING THE PATRIOTIC WAR FROM 1941 TO 1942 SERVED AS THE EDITOR OF THE WEEKLY VOLYN IN RIVNE. IN 1942, MARRIED TATYANA CHERNAYA, THE FORMER ACTRESS FROM KYIV. DURING THE WAR HE ALSO LIVED IN KYIV AND LVIV.
CURRENTLY RESIDES AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: 429 GLENLAKE AVE., TORONTO, ONTARIO. M6P 1G5.
IT IS THE OPINION OF THE REZIDENTURA THAT IT WOULD BE ADVISABLE TO TAKE MEASURES TO DISRUPT THE EFFORTS OF THE NATIONALISTS TO NOMINATE THE HARDCORE ANTI-SOVIET SAMCHUK FOR THE NOBEL PRIZE AND USE HIS ANTI-SOVIET “WORKS” TO STRENGTHEN NATIONALISTIC IDEOLOGICAL WORK ABROAD AND IN UKRAINE.
AS WE PICTURE IT, IT WOULD BE ADVISABLE TO EXAMINE SAMCHUK’S “ACTIVITIES” IN UKRAINE, ESPECIALLY DURING THE WARIN THE CITIES OF RIVNE, KYIV, AND LVIV FROM THE POSITION OF HIS TIES WITH THE GERMANS AND THE BETRAYAL OF HIS PEOPLE, AND USING THIS AS THE BASIS FOR DRAFTING AND PUBLISHING A SERIES OF ARTICLES DEALING WITH HIS DISCREDIT.
WE CAN PUSH CERTAIN PUBLICATIONS IN CANADA USING OUR RESOURCES.
NR 546 KGB RESIDENT 28.7.80
[Translation of partial document begins here]
WE REPORT THIS FOR YOUR INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE OPERATIONAL USE.
IN OUR VIEW, IT IS INADVISABLE TO STIR UP A FUSS ON THE ISSUE OF SAMCHUK’S NOMINATION AMONG NOBEL CONDIDATES, SINCE BY DOING SO WE WOULD ATTRACT MORE ATTENTION TO HIM AND SHOWCASING HIM. IF YOU POSSESS DATA THAT COMPROMISES SAMCHUK AS A NAZI COLLABORATOR DURING THE WAR YEARS, ESPECIALLY AS AN ANTI-SEMITE, ETC., YOU COULD MAKE THIS INFORMATION PUBLIC, WITHOUT TYING IT TO THE NOBEL QUESTION.
WE REQUEST YOU INFORM US OF POSSIBLE PLANNED ACTIONS.
NR 4969CH/A CHIEF OF SERVICE A OF THE USSR PGU KGB
30/7-80 GENERAL MAJOR IVANOV
TOP SECRET
EXTRACT
from an intelligence report by agent “MSTISLAV”
dated 22 April 1944
Writer Ulas SAMCHUK is a very well known political figure in Ukrainian nationalism, and the head of the current nationalist writer’s world. Until the Patriotic War, SAMCHUK lived as an émigré in Germany.
He enjoys exceptional popularity and glory among nationalists, not so much as a personal friend of MELNYK, but chiefly for his unbridled and cutting anti-Soviet novel “Maty” and other nationalist, pro-fascist, and anti-Soviet works.
As the leader of the nationalist writers and as a Melnykite missionary, from 1941 to 1943 he traveled across occupied Ukraine and created OUN [Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists] political and administrative institutions (“Prosvita,” etc.) everywhere he went, and first and foremost, everywhere he set up editorial offices for local nationalist and fascist newspapers, and brought writers and journalists together into nationalist unions, organizations, authors’ partnerships, and supplied writers and the writer-journalist public with OUN nationalist instructions, directives, advise, etc.
In Rivne, Ulas SAMCHUK, together with the well-known nationalists Ivan TYKTOR and Neofit KIBALYUK, published the magazine Volyn. SAMCHUK also directly oversaw the editorship of the Kyiv newspaper “Ukrainian Word” and others.
SAMCHUK arrived in Kharkiv in the summer (July or August) of 1942. Over the course of some weeks, he was constantly arranging meetings of writers, journalists, and correspondents from “New Ukraine,” and arranged meetings in “Prosvita.” He was the founder of the publication in Kharkiv of the nationalist magazine “Ukrainian Remedy [zasib],” and designated A. Petrovich PARADYSSKIY as the editor of this magazine after having received permission from the Germans to publish it). SAMCHUK also took the initiative to build a large lecture hall in Kharkiv at the so-called University of Ukrainian Culture.
Ulas SAMCHUK knows me personally from his time in Kharkiv. He had high regard for my articles that were published in “New Ukraine.”
Translation © 2025 by Michael Estes and TranslatingHistory.org
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