Ukrainian National Assembly Українська Національна Асамблея | |
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| Founded | 30 June 1990 |
| Dissolved | 22 May 2014(political wing only)[1] |
| Merged into | Right Sector(political wing only)[1] |
| Headquarters | Kyiv |
| Paramilitary wing | Ukrainian People's Self-Defence |
| Membership(2006) | 8,000[2] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[5][6] |
| Colours | Red, black |
| Slogan | "Glory to the Nation, death to the enemies!" |
| Anthem | Stay, my love, don't cry, honey |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| unso | |
| Ukrainian People's Self-Defence (UNSO) | |
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| Українська Народна самооборона (УНСО) (Ukrainian) | |
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| Dates of operation | 1994–present |
| Groups | "Argo" "Viking" |
| Active regions | Ukraine |
| Ideology | |
| Part of | UNA-UNSO (till 22 May 2014) Ukrainian territorial defence battalions (2022-present) |
| Allies |  Armed Forces of Ukraine Georgia(1990-2013) Russian Federation (Transnistria War) Transnistria (Transnistria War) Azerbaijan[7][8][9] Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Federal Republic of Yugoslavia[10] Belarusian opposition[11] |
| Opponents |  Russian Federation (Russo-Ukrainian War) Moldova (Transnistria War) Romania[12] (Transnistria War)[13] Abkhazia Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus Armenia[7][8][9] Republic of Artsakh[7][8][9] Pro-Russian separatists Kosovo Liberation Army |
| Battles and wars | 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt Transnistria War War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) First Karabakh War First Chechen War Yugoslav Wars Euromaidan Russo-Ukrainian War |
| Identification symbol |  |
TheUkrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People's Self-Defence (Ukrainian:Українська Національна Асамблея-Українська Народна Самооборона,romanized: Ukrainska Natsionalna Asambleia-Ukrainska Narodna Samooborona, УНА-УНСО,UNA-UNSO) was aUkrainian nationalist organization.[14][15] It was composed by apolitical wing (the Ukrainian National Assembly – UNA) and aparamilitary wing (Ukrainian People's Self-Defence – UNSO).[4]
According toAndreas Umland and Anton Shekhovtsov, the UNA-UNSO was created in 1991 as a "formation manned by UNA members who had served in theSoviet Armed Forces ... to confront theState Committee on the State of Emergency".[16] The UNA-UNSO has been described by international security expert Andrew McGregor as a "influential but fringe movement", which deeply influencedfar-right politics in Ukraine due its visibility and militancy, although it still had small numbers.[2] Although the Ukrainian National Assembly (Ukrainian:УНА, UNA) was the organization'spolitical wing, on 22 May 2014 it merged withRight Sector;[1] the UNSO continues to operate independently.
The UNSO has participated in multiple international conflicts by sending volunteers to support various belligerents. Including theFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War,[17]Transnistria War,[18] theWar in Abkhazia,[19]First Chechen War,[20] theYugoslav Wars and theRusso-Ukrainian War.
The UNA was created on 30 June 1990 inLviv as the Ukrainian Interparty Assembly (UMA).[4] 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 theSeimas Palace during theJanuary Events in Lithuania. On 30 June 1991, about 200 UNS members held a torchlight parade in Lviv commemorating the 1941declaration of Ukrainian independence.
During the first days of the1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, a UNS squad led byVietnam War veteran Valeriy Bobrovych left forMoscow; the squad later laid the foundations for the Argo battalion. On 19 August 1991, during the struggle against theState Committee on the State of Emergency, 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 thewar in Afghanistan. In December 1990Yuriy Shukhevych, the son ofRoman Shukhevych, was elected as the first leader of the UNS.[4] Because of the 8 September 1991Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, the sixth session of the UMA was renamed the Ukrainian National Assembly; it became known as the UNA-UNSO, due to the UNSO's close association with the UNA.[4]
Since its 1991 independence, Ukraine has had separatist movements aiming to reunite portions of Ukraine withRussia and other neighbouring countries. UNA-UNSO stopped People's Deputy Goncharov of theSupreme Soviet of the Soviet Union from reestablishing theDonetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic and the Donetsk National Guard in theDonbas. 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. InOdesa 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 inChernivtsi which advocated the unification of northernBukovina andRomania. In early 1993, the UNSO had a reported 4,000 members.[4]
The UNA was registered as a political party in December 1994,[4] and in the1994 Ukrainian parliamentary election three UNA-UNSO members were elected as deputies to theVerkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament). In September 1995, its registration was suspended until 1997.[4]
UNSO was registered as a public organization inLviv,Ternopil,Rivne andPoltava Oblasts only.[4] In practise, however, there was no distinction between the membership of both organizations.[4]
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 theFirst Chechen War 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 ofPatriarch Volodomyr, head of theUkrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate. The organisations supportedPatriarch Filaret Denysenko, who was excommunicated by theRussian Orthodox Church, and participated in violent attempts to seize property for the new church (particularly in Rivne andVolyn Oblasts)[citation needed]. Membership peaked at around 10,000 members, about 90 percent of whom were between 18 and 35 years old. The organisation was depicted inGeorgiy Gongadze's 1994 documentary film,Shadows of War.[citation needed]
In 1997, the government ofLeonid 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 wereAndriy Shkil andYuriy Shukhevych, the son of Ukrainian nationalistRoman Shukhevych. In the1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the organisation received 0.39 percent of the vote.[21]
Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian Nationalistic Self Defense members participated in the 2000–01Ukraine without Kuchma protest campaign. In the2002 parliamentary elections Andriy Shkil won anelectoral district in Lviv Oblast and a seat in the Verkhovna Rada,[22][23] the party itself won 0.04% of the votes.[21] In 2003 Shkil left the party,[24] and he has become an aide toYulia Tymoshenko.[25][26] During theOrange Revolution UNA-UNSO members supportedViktor Yushchenko against his pro-Russian opponents, providing security for Yushchenko supporters and Orange leaders such as Yulia Tymoshenko in Kyiv'sIndependence Square.[27]
Six Ukrainians fought on the side ofYugoslavia in theBattle of Koshare. The commander of the volunteers wasAndriy Biletsky, and he was also the one who led the volunteers into war.[28]
In 2005,Yuriy Shukhevych again became the party's leader. In the2006 parliamentary election, it failed to win parliamentary representation with 0.06 percent of the vote[21] and did not participate in the2007 election.[21]
In 2008,South Ossetianattorney general Teimuraz Khugayev accused UNA-UNSO of joining a Georgian unit during theAugust war, but no evidence has been provided.[29] According to an August 2009 Russian Investigative Committee report, 200 UNA-UNSO members and soldiers from theUkrainian Ground Forces aided Georgia during the fighting. Ukraine denied the accusation. UNA-UNSO deputy headMykola Karpyuk said that "unfortunately", no organisation members took part in theGeorgian conflict.[citation needed]
UNA-UNSO participated in the2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election,[30] receiving 0.08 percent of the national vote and winning none of the fiveelectoral districts in which they fielded candidates.[31]) and thus failed to win parliamentary representation.[32]In March 2014,Russia brought a criminal case against the party and some of its members, including party leaderOleh Tyahnybok ofSvoboda, for "organizing an armed gang" which allegedly fought the Russian76th Guards Air Assault Division during the first Chechen war.[33] The organisation's Ukrainian National Assembly political wing merged withRight Sector on 22 May 2014.[1]
During the Transnistria War, UNA-UNSO members fought withTransnistrian separatists againstMoldovan government forces,[40] purportedly in defence of Transnistria's large ethnic Ukrainian minority.[4] Over 50 UNSO members were awarded the Defender of Transnistria Order.
In 1993, UNA-UNSO sent volunteers to theAbkhaz–Georgian conflict against Abkhaz separatists.[41][42] The UNA-UNSO Argo unit joined theGeorgian 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 nearSokhumi, sinking a Russian military motorboat. Seven UNSO members died near Sokhumi, and 30 members received the Order ofVakhtang Gorgasali medal. The UNA-UNSO units did not lose a battle in the civil war.
UNSO had also fought in theRusso-Ukrainian War as part of theUkrainian Volunteer Corps[43] and theTerritorial defence battalions 131st Separate Reconnaissance Battalion "UNSO",[44][45] 1st Recon Company UNSO and 55th UNSO Battalion.[citation needed] Members of the brigade have participated in the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine following the2022 invasion.[46]
The Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People's Self-Defence 1994party platform envisionedKyiv as the centre of a new,pan-Slavic, eastern military bloc.[4] 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."[2] Its anthem is "Stay, my love, don't cry, honey", a reprise of "Bella ciao".[47]
| Parliamentary, since 1994 (year links to election page) | ||||||||
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| Year | Votes | % | Mandate | |||||
| 1994 | 148,239 | 0.5 | 1 | |||||
| 1998 | 105,977 | 0.39 | 0 | |||||
| 2002 | 11,839 | 0.04 | 0 (1) | |||||
| 2006 | 16,397 | 0.06 | 0 | |||||
| 2007 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2012 | 16,913 | 0.08 | 0 | |||||
Euromaidan and theRevolution of Dignity | |||||
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21 November 2013 – 23 February 2014 | |||||
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