10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE UKRAINIAN HELSINKI GROUP

Ukraine's Helsinki monitors 10 years later

Photos, when viewed from left to right, correspond to order of biographies that follow.

1. Oleksander BERDNYK

The 58-year-old World War II veteran and author of such science fiction novels as "Beyond Time and Space" (1957), is a founding member and served as the group's chairman after Mykola Rudenko's arrest from 1977 to 1979. For his early writings he spent the years 1949-1956 in prison. His appeals for emigration in 1976 were denied, while much of his writing was confiscated including two completed manuscripts: "The Book of Holy Ukraine's Fate" and "Alternative Evolution." These were later published in the West, however. He was arrested in April 1977, held for three days and released. Finally, on March 6, 1979, in Kiev he was rearrested and charged with "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." Mr. Berdnyk received a sentence of six years' labor camp and three years' exile. Mr. Berdnyk reportedly recanted his views while in labor camp No. 36-1 near Perm, and was released in May 1984.

2. Vyacheslav CHORNOVIL

The 48-year-old journalist is well-known as the chronicler of the trials of Ukrainian intellectuals in the 1960s in his collection, published in the West as "The Chornovil Papers," (1968). In November 1967 he sent a copy of the papers, titled "Lykho z Rozumu," to the Ukrainian party secretary and was arrested for "anti-Soviet slander." Although he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, he was released after 18 months in a general amnesty. Mr. Chornovil found himself in trouble again in January 1972, when he was charged with "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda" and spent six years in a Mordovian labor camp, where he continued to write. While in exile, Mr. Chornovil joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, and toward the end of his term in Nyurba, in the Yakutsk ASSR, was rearrested on April 8, 1980, and charged with "attempted rape." He spent another five years in a strict-regimen labor camp and was released in August 1985. Mr. Chornovil reportedly lives in Lviv.

3. Petro GRIGORENKO

The 79-year-old founding member of the Ukrainian group and a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group served as liaison between the two groups for nearly one year from November 1976 to November 1977, when he left the USSR on a six-month visa to obtain medical treatment in the U.S. In the early 1960s, the decorated World War II veteran was transferred to the Far East, where he organized a Union of Struggle for the Revival of Leninism. For this he was arrested in February 1964, was examined at the Serbsky Institute of Forensic Psychiatry in Moscow and pronounced mentally ill. He was hospitalized for 14 months. In 1969 he flew to Tashkent to serve as a defense witness in the trial of several dissidents and was arrested there in May of that year. He stood trial in Tashkent in February 1970 and was forcibly hospitalized for more than four years in the Chernyakhovsk Special Psychiatric Hospital. In November 1977 he came to New York and was stripped of his Soviet citizenship. He obtained political asylum in the United States and joined the External Representation of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group.

4. Olha HEYKO

The 33-year-old philologist (Czech specialist) resigned from the Communist Youth League, or Komsomol, in April 1977 following the arrest of her husband, historian and group founding member Mykola Matusevych. She declared her membership in the group in May 1977 at the age of 23, continued to defend her husband, and renounced Soviet citizenship. On March 12, 1980, Ms. Heyko was arrested on a charge of "anti-Soviet slander" and sentenced for the maximum three years in a standard-regimen labor camp. Toward the end of her term, Ms. Heyko was rearrested in March 1983 and sentenced to another three years in a strict-regimen labor camp, which she served in Mordovian labor Camp 3-4 until her release in March 1986. She is reportedly living in Kiev, after winning permission to live there for one year with her gravely ill mother.

5. Mykola HORBAL

The 45-year-old poet and teacher of music was first arrested in 1970 for circulating his poem "Duma," written in memory of Ukrainian minstrels (kobzari) executed in the 1930s, and was sentenced to five years in a strict-regimen labor camp and two years of internal exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in September 1979 and the following month was arrested and beaten by his captors without provocation. He was subsequently charged with "resisting arrest" and incriminated with a second charge of "attempted rape." Mr. Horbal was sentenced in January 1980 to five years' strict-regimen labor camp, which he spent in a camp in the Mykolayiv region in Ukraine. He was rearrested in labor camp on October 23, 1984, for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda," and received a sentence of eight years in a strict-regimen labor camp and three years in exile. His release from Perm Labor Camp No. 36-1 is expected in 1995.

6. Vitaliy KALYNYCHENKO

The 48-year-old engineer spent the years 1967-1977 in a strict-regimen labor camp for attempting to cross the Soviet-Finnish border. On October 10, 1977, several months after his release, Mr. Kalynychenko announced a 10-day hunger strike in a letter to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to protest denial of civil and political rights. Mr. Kalynychenko joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group that same month. He was detained for "hooliganism" for two weeks in April 1978 after he refused to attend a meeting to discuss the new Soviet Constitution. Mr. Kalynychenko was rearrested on November 29, 1979, in Vosylkivka in the Dnipropetrovske region and was sentenced in June 1980 to 10 years in a special-regimen labor camp and five years in internal exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He is now in the notorious Labor Camp No. 36-1 in the huge penal complex near Perm awaiting his release in 1994.

7. Ivan KANDYBA

The 56-year-old founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and attorney is well-known for helping fellow dissident Levko Lukianenko draft a constitution for the Ukrainian Workers' and Peasants' Union, which was based in Lviv and lasted from 1959 to 1961. For this Mr. Kandyba served 15 years in a strict-regimen labor camp. After he completed his term, Mr. Kandyba returned to Ukraine, but was not allowed to live in Lviv. In September 1977 the KGB began harassing him with interrogations and threats. He was arrested on March 24, 1981, and charged with "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." Mr. Kandyba was sentenced in July 1981 to 10 years' special-regimen labor camp and five years' internal exile. He is now in Perm Labor Camp No. 36-1 in Kuchino awaiting his release in 1996.

8. Sviatoslav KARAVANSKY

The 65-year-old writer and translator of English literary works, including works by Shakespeare, Byron and Shelley, spent some 30 year in Soviet prisons. He was first arrested in 1945 for belonging to the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and was sentenced to 25 years of hard labor. In 1960 he was freed under a general amnesty. For statements condemning discrimination against Ukrainians and the 1965 wave of arrests, Mr. Karavansky was arrested in November 1965. He was sentenced without trial to eight and one-half years in a strict-regimen labor camp. But he did not cease writing and found himself rearrested in prison in 1970. He was sentenced to another 10 years' imprisonment and was released on September 15, 1979. He had joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in prison in February 1979. Mr. Karavansky was forced to emigrate with his wife in December 1979. They now reside in the United States.

9. Zinoviy KRASIVSKY

The 56-year-old poet and philologist was deported with his family in 1947 from western Ukraine to Siberia, where at age 17 he was sentenced to five years in labor camp for escaping from internal exile. After his release, he again returned to the Lviv region. His involvement in organizing the underground Ukrainian National Front, and in publishing an illegal journal, Fatherland and Freedom, Mr. Krasivsky was arrested in March 1967 on charges of "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda," and "treason." He was sentenced to five years in prison, seven years in a labor camp and five years' exile. He was sent to a special psychiatric hospital in Smolensk in 1973 and was later transferred to a general psychiatric hospital in Lviv. He was released in 1978 in very poor health and joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in October 1979. In March 1980, he was rearrested on unknown charges and spent eight months in a strict-regimen labor camp and five years in exile. He was released in September 1985 and is living in Lviv.

10. Yaroslav LESIV

The 43-year-old physical education teacher was first sentenced in 1967 to five years' labor camp and five years' internal exile for his membership in the Ukrainian National Front. Less than two months after he joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in September 1979, Mr. Lesiv was arrested and charged with possession of narcotics for which he received a sentence of two years' strict-regimen labor camp. He was rearrested in labor camp in May 1981 and sentenced under the some charges to five more years in a strict-regimen labor camp. He is currently in Labor Camp No. 30-2-29 in Sukhodolsk in the Voroshylovhrad region awaiting his release sometime this month.

11. Lev LUKIANENKO

The 58-year-old attorney is a founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and its principal legal advisor. Mr. Lukianenko worked for several years in the late 1950s as a lawyer in the Lviv region. He was first arrested in January 1961 for co-authoring a draft constitution of the Ukrainian Workers' and Peasants' Union based in Lviv. He was charged with "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda," "anti-Soviet organization" and "treason." Mr. Lukianenko was rearrested in December 1977 and charged with "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda" for articles he wrote and circulated in samvydav, which later were published in the West. He was sentenced to 10 years' special-regimen labor camp and five years' exile, which he is serving now in Perm labor Camp 36-1 in Kuchino while awaiting his release in December 1992.

12. Yuriy LYTVYN

Yuriy Lytvyn is one of four Ukrainian Helsinki Group members to have died while serving a sentence. It is believed Mr. Lytvyn, who was 50 years old at his time of death, committed suicide on September 5, 1984, while serving a sentence of 10 years in a special-regimen labor camp, which would have been followed by five years' exile. Mr. Lytvyn had been rearrested in 1982 toward the end of a three-year term for "resisting police." Mr. Lytvyn served previous terms, in 1955-1965 for participation in the Ukrainian nationalist movement, in 1974-1977 for "anti-Soviet slander," and in 1979-1982 far "resisting police." Mr. Lytvyn was active in the production of samvydav literature and poetry, and joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group unofficially in November 1977 and later officially in the summer of 1979.

13. Volodymyr MALYNKOVYCH

The 46-year-old physician joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in December 1979. In 1968, Dr. Malynkovych was court martialed as a Red Army physician for refusing to go with his unit to Czechoslovakia. As a radiologist at the Institute of Endocrinology in Kiev in 1978-1979, Dr. Malynkovych became involved in the defense of Alexander Ginsburg and Mykhailo Melnyk and was called in daily for KGB questioning. On August 25, 1979, he was dismissed from his job for membership in the Kiev Helsinki Group, and on November 4 he was beaten on a Kiev street. Later that month he was warned charges might be filed against him. Thus under pressure, Dr. Malynkovych emigrated from the USSR in December 1979 and settled in West Germany.

14. Myroslav MARYNOVYCH

The 37-year-old electrical engineer is a founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group. Before his arrest on April 23, 1977, he worked as an editor in the Tekhnika publishing house. On February 5, 1977, the day of Mykola Rudenko's arrest, Mr. Marynovych's apartment and that of his parents was searched. He was tried together with Mykola Matusevych in Vasylkiv on March 22-29, 1978, and was charged with "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He was sentenced to seven years' strict-regimen labor camp and five years' exile, which he is serving in Kazakhstan until his scheduled release in 1989.

15. Mykola MATUSEVYCH

The 39-year-old historian and founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group was first arrested in December 1975 and detained for 15 days for "hooliganism," for participating in a caroling group. He was arrested on April 23, 1977, for his activity in the Helsinki Group and charged with "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda."

He was tried jointly with Myroslav Marynovych in March 1978 in Vasylkiv, Kiev region. Mr. Matusevych was sentenced to seven years' strict regimen labor camp and five years' exile. He is currently in exile in Kyra, Chitinskaya region, awaiting his release in April 1989.

16. Mykhailo MELNYK

Mykhailo Melnyk, 42, who joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in November 1977, committed suicide on March 9, 1979, as a result of continuous KGB persecution. Between 1969 and 1971 he was a doctoral candidate at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, but was expelled 20 days before his final examination for reciting poetry at the monument to Taras Shevchenko in Kiev. In the years that followed, Mr. Melnyk worked on a manuscript on the history of Ukraine; this was a closely guarded secret. His entire archive was confiscated during a search on March 6, 1979, and he committed suicide three days afterwards.

17. Oksana MESHKO

The 81-year-old founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group served her first prison term in 1947-1955 for refusing to renounce her husband, a political prisoner, which she served in the infamous Beria concentration camps. Since 1972, Ms. Meshko has been outspoken in defense of her son, Oleksander Serhiyenko, who was sentenced that year to seven years' imprisonment and three years' exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." After Oles Berdnyk's arrest, Ms. Meshko was chosen chairman of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and served in that capacity until her arrest on October 14, 1980, for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." She spent six months in a strict-regimen labor camp and five years in exile. She was released earlier this year and is believed to be living in Kiev.

18. Mart NIKLUS

The 52-year-old Estonian activist joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in labor camp in October 1983. Mr. Niklus was arrested on April 29, 1980, for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda," for authorship of samvydav literature and listening to Voice of America broadcasts with his pupils. He was sentenced to 10 years in a special-regimen labor camp and five years in exile. He is awaiting his release in April 1998 in Perm Labor Camp No. 36-1.

19. Vasyl OVSIYENKO

The 37-year-old former teacher of Ukrainian language and literature in Tashan, Kiev region, joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in March 1977. Mr. Ovsiyenko was first arrested in March 1973 and sentenced to four years' strict-regimen labor camp for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." In August 1977 he was interrogated about his friends Myroslav Marynovych and Mykola Matusevych. He was arrested on February 8, 1979, and was sentenced to three years' strict-regimen labor camp for "anti-Soviet slander." He was rearrested in labor camp in 1981 and was sentenced to an additional 10 years in a special-regimen labor camp and five years in exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He is awaiting his release in 1990 in Perm Labor Camp No. 36-1.

20. Viktoras PETKUS

A member of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group, Mr. Petkus, 56, joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in October 1983 while in labor camp in Kuchino, near Perm (No. 36-1). Mr. Petkus, who resided in Vilnius, Lithuania, was arrested for his activity in the Lithuanian Helsinki Group and statements criticizing the regime in August 1977 and was sentenced to 10 years' special-regimen labor camp and five years' exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He had already spent many years in labor camps: 1947-1953, 1958-1905, for Lithuanian nationalist activity. He is due to be released in August 1992.

21. Oksana POPOVYCH

The 60-year-old electrical worker joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in February 1979 while in a women's labor camp in Mordovia. Ms. Popovych served a 10-year sentence in 1944-1954 for her activity in the Ukrainian independence movement. After her release, she returned to her native Ivano-Frankivske region in Ukraine, where in the late 1960s she became active in distributing Ukrainian samvydav. In October 1974 Ms. Popovych was arrested in a general round-up of Ukrainian activists and was sentenced to eight years' strict-regimen labor camp and five years' exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." She is currently awaiting her release in October 1987 in exile in the Tomsk region.

22. Bohdan REBRYK

The 48-year-old teacher from Ivano-Frankivske joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in February 1977 while in a Mordovian labor camp, where he was serving a sentence of seven years' special-regimen labor camp, followed by three years' exile, for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." A Red Army veteran, Mr. Rebryk was first arrested in February 1967 and sentenced to three years' labor camp for "anti-Soviet slander," for openly professing his Ukrainian nationalism, After his release in 1970, the KGB continued to harass Mr. Rebryk until his arrest in May 1974. He was released in 1984 and is believed to be living in western Ukraine.

23. Rev. Vasyl ROMANIUK

The 60-year-old Rev. Romaniuk joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in February 1979 while in internal exile in Yakut ASSR. He was first arrested in 1944 for "nationalist and religious activity" and spent 10 years in labor camp and exile. Meanwhile, Rev. Romaniuk's entire family was deported to Siberia. After his release from prison he was ordained a priest in 1959. His stand against church corruption and state suppression of religion caused his arrest in July 1972 for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He was sentenced to two years in prison, five years in a special-regimen labor camp and three years' exile and was released in July 1982.

24. Petro ROZUMNY

The 60-year-old teacher of English from Dnipropetrovske joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in October 1979. He taught English in the Ternopil and Dnipropetrovske regions but lost his teaching job in 1967 because of his ties with Ukrainian dissidents. After joining the Helsinki Group, Mr. Rozumny visited his friend Yevhen Sverstiuk in exile in eastern Siberia, where he bought himself a hunting knife as a souvenir. Shortly after he returned home, his quarters were searched and the knife was discovered. He was arrested on October 8, 1979, for "illegal possession of a weapon" and was sentenced to three years in labor camp He was released in 1982 and is living in Ukraine.

25. Mykola RUDENKO

The 65-year-old wrier and poet served as chairman of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group from the time of its formation on November 9, 1970, until his own arrest on February 5, 1977. He served as secretary of the party organization of the Writers' Union of Ukraine and several collections of his poetry were published in the USSR. His work was criticized, however, for its idealization of the peasant way of life, and by the early 1970s he found himself expelled from the Communist Party and unable to get his works published. Mr. Rudenko joined the Soviet chapter of Amnesty International in September 1974 and was detained shortly afterward in Kiev for two days. In June 1975 he was expelled from the Writers' Union of Ukraine and when the Ukrainian Helsinki Group was formed became its leader. When the KGB arrested Mr. Rudenko they charged him with "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He was sentenced to seven years' strict-regimen labor camp and five years' exile. He is awaiting his release in February 1989 in exile in the Gorno-Altayska autonomous region.

26. Iryna SENYK

The 60-year old nurse and poet from Ivano-Frankivske joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in February 1979 while in internal exile in Kazakhstan. She was first arrested in 1944 for participating in the Ukrainian resistance and served 10 years of hard labor. She was arrested a second time in November 1972 for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." Her poetic work and her association with Ukrainian dissidents such as Vyacheslav Chornovil, Sviatoslav Karavansky and Valentyn Moroz served as grounds for her sentence: six years in a strict-regimen labor camp and three years in exile. She was released in 1982 and is living in western Ukraine.

27. Stefania SHABATURA

The 48-year-old Lviv artist joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in October 1979 while in exile. Ms. Shabatura is well-known for her drawings and tapestries, as well as her activity in defense of Valentyn Moroz and other political prisoners. This resulted in her arrest on January 12, 1972, for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." She was sentenced to five years' strict-regimen labor camp and three years' exile. She was released in January 1980 and was permitted to live in Lviv under "administrative supervision."

28. Yuriy SHUKHEVYCH

The 52-year-old worker has spent most of his life in Soviet prisons and labor camps. He was first arrested in 1948 at age 14 and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment simply because he is the son of the late Roman Shukhevych, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Because he refused to renounce his father, he was rearrested on the day his term expired (August 21, 1958) and sentenced to another 10 years. After his release, Mr. Shukhevych settled in the Caucasian town of Nalchik, married and worked as an electrical repairman. He was forbidden to return to Ukraine. In March 1972 he was arrested again and sentenced to five years' prison, five years' labor camp and five years' exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." While serving his latest sentence in labor camp, Mr. Shukhevych joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in February 1979. He is currently in exile in the Tomsk region awaiting his release in March 1987.

29. Danylo SHUMUK

The 72-year-old veteran political prisoner spent over 40 years of his life in prisons and camps, Polish, German and Soviet. In 1933, Mr. Shumuk was arrested at age 18 by the Polish administration controlling western Ukraine and served five years for being a Communist. He was released in 1939 after the Soviets took control of western Ukraine. When the Germans invaded the USSR he was captured as a prisoner of war and spent 18 months in a German POW camp until he escaped. Disillusioned with communism, he joined the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and was arrested by the Soviet secret police in December 1944 and spent 10 years in prisons and camps. Amnestied in 1956, Mr. Shumuk was sentenced to another 10 years in camp for writing his memoirs about life in prison. Released in 1967, Mr. Shumuk was rearrested in January 1972 after the KGB found a second volume of his memoirs and was sentenced to 10 years' special-regimen labor camp and five years' exile. In February 1979 he joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in a Mordovian prison camp. He is now in exile in the Kazakh SSR awaiting his release in January 1987.

30. Petro SICHKO

The 60-year-old economist joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in April 1978. An active participant in the post-World War II national liberation movement in western Ukraine, Mr. Sichko was arrested and tried in 1947 for starting a branch of the Organization for the Liberation of Western Ukraine, an underground student group, at Chernivtsi University. He received the death penalty but his sentence was commuted to 25 years hard labor. He was released in 1957 under a general amnesty. In 1978, Mr. Sichko became active in the Helsinki Group and on June 10, 1979, he delivered a speech at the fresh grave of composer Volodymyr Ivasiuk in Lviv, which served as the pretext for his arrest on July 5, 1979, together with his son Vasyl. Charged with "anti-Soviet slander," Mr. Sichko was sentenced to three years' strict-regimen labor camp. He was rearrested in camp on May 20, 1982, and was sentenced to three more years' strict-regimen labor camp. He was released in May 1985.

31. Vasyl SICHKO

The 29-year-old former journalist and student joined the group along with his father, Petro, in April 1978. In September 1977 he renounced his citizenship, declared his desire to emigrate and refused to serve in the army. For this he was rearrested an January 17, 1978, and was held in a psychiatric hospital for two weeks. He was rearrested shortly after his appearance at Volodymyr Ivasiuk's grave in Lviv on June 10, 1979. He was held in a psychiatric hospital for 40 days and was eventually put on trial with his father for "anti Soviet slander." He was sentenced to three years' reinforced-regimen labor camp and was rearrested on December 11, 1981, on a narcotics charge and given another three-year sentence. He was released in July 1985.

32. Ivan SOKULSKY

The 46-year-old poet and journalist joined the Helsinki Group in October 1979. Mr. Sokulsky worked for several years in the late 1960s on the staff of a local Dnipropetrovske journal, from which he was dismissed for political reasons. In January 1970 he was sentenced to four and one-half years of labor camp for "anti Soviet agitation and propaganda." After his release in 1974, Mr. Sokulsky was rearrested for his activity in the Helsinki Group on April 11, 1980, and was sentenced to 10 years' special-regimen labor camp and five years' exile on the same charge. Mr. Sokulsky was alleged to have recanted while in camp but dissidents abroad have strongly denied this. He was released in 1985.

33. Vasyl STRILTSIV

The 57-year-old English teacher joined the Helsinki Group in October 1977 after he renounced his Soviet citizenship and sent his passport to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR because he desired to emigrate. Mr. Striltsiv spent 10 years in labor camps, beginning in 1944, when a military tribunal sentenced him. On October 25, 1979, he was arrested for "violation of passport laws," and was sentenced to two years' strict-regimen labor camp. He was rearrested in camp an October 20, 1981, and given a sentence of seven years' strict-regimen labor camp and four years' exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He is awaiting his October 1992 release in Mordovian Labor Camp 3-4.

34. Nina STROKATA

The 60-year-old microbiologist and founding member of the Helsinki Group was first arrested in December 1971 for her political activity and defense of her incarcerated dissident husband Sviatoslav Karavansky. She was sentenced to four years' strict-regimen labor camp for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." She was released from labor camp in December 1975, but was forbidden to return to Ukraine. On February 6, 1977, Ms. Strokata's apartment was searched in connection with the arrest of members of the Ukrainian and Moscow Helsinki Groups. Ms. Strokata was forced to emigrate on November 30, 1979. She lives in the United States with her husband and belongs to the group's External Representation.

35. Vasyl STUS

Considered one of the finest Ukrainian poets and literary critics, Vasyl Stus, was one of the four Ukrainian Helsinki Group members to die while in labor camp. He began publishing his poetry in 1959 and was active in the human-rights movement since 1965. On January 12, 1972, he was arrested and sentenced to five years' labor camp and three years' exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in October 1979, was rearrested on May 18, 1980, and sentenced to 10 years' special-regimen labor camp and five years exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He died on September 4, 1985, at the age of 47.

36. Nadia SVITLYCHNA

The 50-year-old philologist became active in the human-rights movement in 1965. She was arrested in May 1972 and charged with "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." She was sentenced to four years' strict regimen labor camp, which she spent in Mordovian Labor Camp No. 3 until May 1976. Following her release she renounced Soviet citizenship in December 1976 and her request for permission to emigrate was finally granted in 1978. She joined the Helsinki Group in January 1977 as an undeclared member and became a member of the External Representation.

37. Oleksiy TYKHY

A teacher and founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, Mr. Tykhy died while in a special-regimen labor camp on May 6, 1984, at the age of 48. He served his first term in 1957-1964 for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." He was arrested on the same day as Mykola Rudenko, on February 5, 1977. He was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and five years' exile on the same charge as previously as well as for "illegal possession of a firearm." He died in a Perm region labor camp after a long illness.

38. Petro VINS

The 30-year-old son of Baptist leader Georgi Vins joined the Helsinki Group in April 1977, following the arrest of Mykola Rudenko and Oleksa Tykhy. He was arrested on February 15, 1978, and charged with "parasitism." He was tried in Kiev and sentenced to one-year's imprisonment. In mid-June 1978 he arrived in the United States with the rest of the Vins family.

39. Yosyf ZISELS

The 39-year-old engineer from Chernivtsi was active in the defense of Ukrainian political prisoners. He was arrested on December 8, 1978, for "anti-Soviet slander." Mr. Zisels was sentenced to three years' reinforced-regimen labor camp. He had joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in 1977. Mr. Zisels was arrested again on October 19, 1984, and was sentenced to three years' labor camp. His release from a Sverdlovsk region camp is imminent in 1987.

- Compiled by Chrystyna N. Lapychak

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 9, 1986, No. 45, Vol. LIV

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