Last Commander of Ukrainian Insurgent Army – Vasyl Kuk Dies

KYIV (UKRINFORM) - The last leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrains’ka Povstans’ka Armija - UPA), Vasyl Kuk, died in Kyiv, Ukraine on September 9 at the age of 94.

Mr. Kuk was born on January 11, 1913 in the village of Krasne, Lviv region in Western Ukraine. He joined the Ukrainian Military Organization in 1929. His arrest in 1933 and held until 1936 was followed by imprisonment. In May 1937, he became an underground UPA member.

 On June 30, 1941, Vasyl Kuk participated in the proclamation of the Act of Revival of the Ukrainian State in Lviv and led a group to repeat the deed in Kyiv. The attempt was

foiled by the activists’ arrest in the vicinity of the capital. Following his escape from Nazi captivity, Vasyl Kuk headed the branch of the Ukrainian Nationalists’ Organization (OUN) in Dnipropet-rovsk, Ukraine.

In 1944, Vasyl Kuk became a close associate of the Leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army Roman Shukhevych and later his deputy. After Shukhevych’s death in March 1950, Vasyl Kuk took over his duties.

The UPA leader stayed imprisoned for six years before Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev came to power.

In a letter to Wasyl Kuk's family and friends, President Victor Yushchenko reportedly said: “He was struggling for Ukraine until his last breath and was a personification of Ukraine.... Ukraine’s faithful son, Vasyl Kuk, will forever stay in our memory as a paragon of loyalty to the people and selfless service to our state.”

Прощання з генерал-хорунжим УПА Василем Куком

ЛЬВІВ. 11 вересня 2007 року в соборі Святого Юрa відбулося прощання з генерал-хорунжим УПА Василем Куком. На час проведення ритуальних церемоній похоронів на знак скорботи за померлим на Ратуші був приспущений державний прапор України, а на будівлі Львівської міської ради – прапор міста.