liberation of Ukraine from the Nazi invaders, and inclusion of Western Ukraine

From; Weekly 2000 Nos. 482-485

On November 1, 1939, the supreme legislative body of the USSR, the Supreme Soviet, adopted a law on the inclusion of Western Ukraine into the USSR with its reunification with the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

In accordance with this law, by order of the NKVD No. 001359 of November 6, 1939, the NKVD bodies of Western Ukraine were organized.

In accordance with this law, by order of the NKVD No. 001359 of November 6, 1939, the NKVD bodies of Western Ukraine were organized.

It stated:

"1. Organize:

a) Directorate of the NKVD for the Lviv region, with deployment in the city of Lvov; the county departments of the NKVD subordinate to him, listed in the announced list No. 1;

b) Directorate of the NKVD in the Lutsk region, with deployment in the city of Lutsk; the county departments of the NKVD subordinate to him, listed in the announced list No. 2;

c) Directorate of the NKVD for the Stanislavov region, with deployment in the city of Stanislavov; the county departments of the NKVD subordinate to him, listed in the announced list No. 3;

d) Directorate of the NKVD for the Tarnopol region, with deployment in the city of Tarnopol; the county departments of the NKVD subordinate to him, listed in the announced list No. 4 ...

4. The staffing of the newly organized bodies of the NKVD to be made at the expense of 726 people previously sent to Western Ukraine; to cover the shortage of the remaining operational staff at the expense of: the current staff of employees of the NKVD of the republics, the UNKVD of the territories and regions - 100 people, according to the announced allocation; special bodies of the NKVD of the Kyiv military district - 250 people; operational-chekist schools of the NKVD - 150 people and border guards of the NKVD - 100 people ...

6. All persons previously sent to work in the NKVD bodies of Western Ukraine should be considered as permanent employees, in accordance with which travel allowances for these employees should be canceled ... " [18]

Thus, the work of the state security agencies in Western Ukraine, as well as the fight against the OUN underground, moved to a qualitatively new level.

In Western Ukraine, 4 UNKVD were created.

In the Lviv region, 16 county (later district) departments were organized, Lutsk (from 12/13/1939 - Volyn) - 10, Stanislav - 14, Tarnopol - 16.

On August 9, 1940, by order No. 00964, the Chernivtsi UNKVD was organized with 17 regional departments [19] .

They were led by:

in Volyn - R. V. Krutov (former deputy head of the UNKVD of the Nikolaev region) and from 12/4/1939 to 03/28/1941 - I. M. Belotserkovsky (former deputy head of the UNKVD of the Vinnitsa region);

in the Stanislav region - S. R. Savchenko (former deputy head of the Border Troops of the NKVD of the Ukrainian SSR) and A. N. Mikhailov (former head of the UNKVD of the Kamenetz-Podolsk region);

in the Tarnopol region - A. A. Vadis (former head of the 3rd department of the UGB of the UNKVD of the Kamenetz-Podolsk region);

in the Lvov region - K. E. Krasnov (former head of the 3rd department of the UGB NKVD of the Leningrad Region) and from February 26, 1940 to February 26, 1941 - V. T. Sergienko (former head of the investigation department of the GUGB NKVD of the USSR), later V. T Sergienko served as deputy commissar of the NKVD of the Ukrainian SSR;

in the Chernivtsi region (08/07/1940 - 03/28/1941) - A. N. Martynov (former head of the UNKVD of the Zhytomyr region).

Thus, it is clear that initially the leadership positions were occupied by the leaders of the operational-Chekist groups, but they were quickly replaced by representatives of exclusively Ukrainian personnel, moreover, from neighboring regions. There was no "dominance of newcomers" in the leadership of local state security agencies. All were "their own", who knew the specifics of work in these territories. The exception is the Lviv region - which is understandable - due to its strategic location and importance as the political center of Western Ukraine. The importance of the Lviv region is also shown by the combination of the position of the head of the UNKVD and the deputy people's commissar of the republic.

In the structure of the people's commissariats of internal affairs of the USSR and the Ukrainian SSR and those created by the UNKVD, the nationalist underground was primarily engaged in the departments of state security (UGB). In the UGB apparatus of interest to us, it is necessary to separately consider the work of the second department (in the UNKVD - department) and the third department.

For example, in the NKVD of the Ukrainian SSR, the second department (secret-political) had the following departments:

1st, dealing with Trotskyists, "Rightists", Zinovievites, former members of the Communist Party and Komsomol;

2nd - Ukrainian anti-Soviet political parties and organizations;

3rd - Russian, Polish and other anti-Soviet political parties and organizations, Zionists;

4th - churchmen and sectarians;

5th - "former", provocateurs, policemen, monarchists, cadets, "White Cossacks";

6th - by the Academy of Sciences, writers, artists, artists, film studios, publishing houses;

7th - public education, educational institutions, sports organizations, youth organizations;

8th - by trade unions and health authorities;

9th - paramilitary organizations;

10th - operational technology and accounting.

Third department (counterintelligence): 1 - Polish department, 2 - German, 3 - Romanian, 4 - espionage, 5 - Ukrainian and "white" counter-revolution, a group of operational equipment and accounting.

In addition, in the structure of the third department of the UNKVD, the 3rd department was also engaged in the fight against "political banditry." In addition, there were departments (departments) of the criminal investigation department (ORZ) in the Office of Workers 'and Peasants' Militia (URKM). In these departments, the 1st department was also engaged in banditry, but not "political", but criminal.

In this form, the state security agencies existed until February 1941, when the NKVD was divided into two people's commissariats - internal affairs (headed by L.P. Beria) and state security (headed by V.N. Merkulov). After that, by order No. 00349 of April 4, 1941, a department for combating banditry (OBB) was organized as part of the Main Police Department of the NKVD of the USSR, headed by Sh. O Tsereteli (former head of the 3rd special department of the NKVD of the USSR). In the OBB, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova were supervised by the 2nd department (by states - 10 people). On the ground, two departments of the OBB were created, of which the first was engaged in intelligence and operational work, and the second - in the investigation. Also, the 2nd directorate (counterintelligence) and the 3rd (secret-political) were engaged in “political banditry” in the structure of the NKGB. They were headed respectively by P. V. Fedotov and S. R. Milshtein (from April 1, 1941 - N. D.

In the Ukrainian SSR, the NKVD and the NKGB were led by V. T. Sergienko and P. Ya. Meshik, respectively, the regional departments were headed (UNKVD and UNKGB, respectively):

in Volhynia - A. F. Mukhin, I. M. Belotserkovsky;

in the Drohobych region - A. N. Volkov, I. I. Zachepa;

in the Lvov region - V. T. Lyashenko, I. M. Tkachenko (he is also deputy commissar of the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR);

in the Rivne region - V. F. Mastitsky, E. D. Losev (temporarily acting);

in the Stanislav region - Ya. N. Sinitsyn, A. N. Mikhailov;

in the Tarnopol region - A. A. Chobotov, A. A. Vadis;

in the Chernivtsi region - P. P. Dmitriev, V. M. Trubnikov.

Such an organization of the state security organs was preserved until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.