Ukraine

Miroslav Tomek - In defence of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists
Abstract

The review article deals with David Svoboda’s monograph Jablko z oceli. Zrod, vývoj a činnost ukrajinského radikálního nacionalismu v letech 1920–1939 (Apple of Steel: The Birth, Development, and Activities of Ukrainian Radical Nationalism in 1920–1939. Academia – Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů, Praha 2021). This extremely comprehensive book on the history of Ukrainian radical nationalism in the interwar period is definitely a pioneering work in the Czech context. The author has made use of a large amount of literature and archival sources, yet he has not avoided several shortcomings, which are the subject of detailed analysis. The author takes an apologetic approach to his topic and defends the Ukrainian nationalists in an undisguised manner. On the contrary, he resigns to set clear research questions. Far from always adhering to strict standards of scholarship, the author’s book is often more akin to a polemical essay. Despite these shortcomings, it is undoubtedly an important contribution to scholarly debate.

Evgenia Lezina - Soviet State Security and the Regime of Secrecy: Guarding State Secrets and Political Control of Industrial Enterprises and Institutions in the Post‑Stalin Era
Abstract

Having been entrusted with securing secrets in the early years of Soviet rule, the secret police remained the chief guardian of state secrets and the main driving force behind the regime of secrecy in the USSR until its collapse in 1991. This paper explores the development of the secrecy regime in the Soviet Union from the late 1950s until the late 1980s, focusing on the relevant functions, methods, and practices of regime-secrecy bodies during this period. It also addresses a double function of state security agencies at industrial enterprises and institutions as a secret police conducting counterintelligence servicing and performing surveillance over employees on the one hand, and acting as a guardian and organizer of the secrecy regime on the other. Additionally, it examines the role and implications of the personnel security screening system, which was a part of securing state secrets. This study is largely based on archival sources from the collections of the Lithuanian Special Archives in Vilnius, the archives of the State Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv, and the Communist Party archives in Moscow.