The Chita Trial: Repressions Against the Ukrainian Movement in the Far East
- Володимир Дубовський
- Sep 19
- 8 min read
«Foreign pressure on our people will not eradicate the truth that we are a distinct and independent nation.»
— From the Declaration of Independence of the Ukrainian Far Eastern Republic
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the Far East, then controlled by the russian empire, became home to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian settlers from Poltava, Chernihiv, and Kyiv regions. The appearance of Ukrainians in the Far East was not accidental: as early as the 17th century, Cossacks, during campaigns along the Amur, established the first settlements. But it was at the end of the 19th century, following Stolypin’s reforms and the active colonization of the eastern territories of the russian empire, that mass Ukrainian migration began — a migration that would permanently transform the face of this region.
As a result, the lands settled by the migrants became known as the Zelenyi Klyn (Green Ukraine). By the beginning of the 20th century, Ukrainians were establishing schools, cultural societies, cooperatives, monuments, and engaging in book printing as well as the publication of newspapers and journals. After the 1917 revolution, the Ukrainians of the Zelenyi Klyn submitted a demand for autonomy to the Provisional Government, and some even began planning full independence.
During the Civil War in the Far East, the Ukrainians of the Zelenyi Klyn did not remain passive observers. From 1918 to 1920, with the support of the Ukrainian Far Eastern National Council, an attempt was made to create the independent Ukrainian Far Eastern Republic (UFDR). Its leaders proclaimed the protection of Ukrainian culture, language, and the right to self-determination as their primary goal. Among the proposed symbols of the republic were a coat of arms with the trident and a blue-and-yellow flag with a green triangle.
The main slogans of the movement became:
— «Freedom to the Zelenyi Klyn!» — «Ukrainian land for the Ukrainian people!» — «Liberty, justice, and brotherhood!»
Attempts to establish independence faced military intervention by the Bolsheviks and internal betrayals, but the memory of the republic remained as a symbol of the struggle for freedom. Thanks to the soviet authorities and modern russia, this period was erased from official sources, yet it is important to remember that besides the Reds and the Whites, there was a third force in the Civil War in the Far East — the Ukrainian Far Eastern Republic. Ukrainians established local regional authorities, held elections, and drafted and adopted a Declaration of Independence.
From the Declaration of Independence of the Ukrainian Far Eastern Republic (1918):
«We, the representatives of the Ukrainian people of the Zelenyi Klyn, affirm our right to self-determination, to our own authority, and to the protection of language, culture, and traditions on our land.»
By 1920, over 11,000 passports of the citizens of the Ukrainian Far Eastern Republic had been printed, some of which are now preserved in the FSB archives of the Far Eastern regions. However, the forces were unequal, and the supporters of red russia emerged victorious — sometimes through deception and bribery, sometimes through violence, committing acts of genocide, as in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. Unsurprisingly, after the Bolsheviks came to power, the aspirations of Far Eastern Ukrainians were deemed hostile to the soviet regime. The culmination of these repressions was the Chita Trial of 1924–1925. It is this trial that I will focus on in today’s article.
Ukrainians of the Zelenyi Klyn in the Chita Trial
The trial took place in the city of Chita from September 1924 to April 1925. A total of 122 people stood before the court: former White officers, Cossacks, but most importantly — representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia, supporters of the movement for the independence of the Zelenyi Klyn. The presiding judge was Aleksei Hryhorovych Serebryakov. The trial was public: the authorities sought to intimidate the population and demonstrate their resolve in the fight against «counter-revolution.»
Special attention during the trial was given to Ukrainian figures:They were accused of preparing an uprising, «separatism,» and «collaboration with foreign powers.»
During the trial, the soviet authorities branded the following Ukrainian organizations:
Newspapers:
«Zelenyi Klyn» (Blagoveshchensk)
«Ukrainskyi Holos» (Nikolsk-Ussuriysky)
«Nash Krai» (Khabarovsk)
Organizations:
Ukrainian Far Eastern National Council (Khabarovsk)
Ukrainian Youth Association «Promin» (Vladivostok)
Cooperative «Ukrainska Khata»
Blagoveshchensk Cultural Committee of Ukrainians
Society of Ukrainians of the Amur (Svobodny)
Their activities were declared a cover for «counter-revolutionary work.»
One of the central figures of the trial was Yuriy Hlushko-Mova — a well-known Ukrainian writer, publicist, and political activist. He stood at the origins of the Ukrainian Far Eastern National Council, organized schools and clubs, and published Ukrainian newspapers in the Far East.
At the Chita Trial, he was accused of:
— organizing the Ukrainian underground,
— seeking to create an independent state of the Zelenyi Klyn,
— maintaining contacts with Japan.
From the prosecutor’s speech at the trial:
«Hlushko-Mova sought to establish an anti-soviet stronghold in the Far East.»
During the trial, Yuriy Hlushko-Mova stated:
«All my crime before you is that I wanted every Ukrainian here, in the Far East, to have the right to be Ukrainian — to speak in their mother tongue, sing the songs of their fathers, read the books of our writers.»
«A government that fears the truth is forced to fear those who speak in their native language.»
Regarding all accusations of espionage in favor of Japan, Hlushko responded:
«I was not a spy for Japan. My only dream is that my people live freely and proudly under the sky of the Zelenyi Klyn.»
Judge Matveyev asked: «You were imprisoned and brought to trial?»
«I was imprisoned under Kolchak and sentenced to death for fighting to organize a Ukrainian kuren, to prevent the russification of Ukrainians and their use in fratricidal warfare.»
Hlushko-Mova was sentenced to 15 years in labor camps, with a lifelong ban on residing in the Far Eastern Krai and the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.
The atmosphere at the trial was oppressive. Despite the pressure, the defendants often refused to admit guilt in «counter-revolutionary activities,» emphasizing that their goal was not to fight the authorities but to defend the right of Ukrainians to their culture, language, and identity. The prosecutor’s speeches were filled with accusations of «espionage for Japan,» «nationalist propaganda,» and «organizing an armed conspiracy,» yet many of the charges were based on denunciations and assumptions.
In their final statements, many defendants addressed not the judges, but their own people, as if knowing that their true court and verdict lay there.
Yuriy Hlushko-Mova (in his final statement):
«I do not ask for mercy. My only wish is that my people do not forget what we fought for. We are not criminals, we are fighters for truth and freedom!»
Ivan Kovalenko (during interrogation):
«Faith in the Ukrainian cause is more important to me than life. If loving my native land is a crime — then yes, I am guilty.»
Petro Skurativskyi (at the trial):
«They took our schools, our songs, our prayers, our land. We only wanted to bring our people back to themselves.»
Fedir Lytvyn (in the session records):
«I wanted my children to know what it means to be Ukrainian — even here, in the Far East.»
Olena Chaikivska (before giving her final statement):
«They throw me into the Siberian forests, but I believe: our songs and our words will live even there.»
Sentenced to Execution
Seven people at the Chita Trial were sentenced to execution. Among them was Ivan Kovalenko, organizer of Ukrainian clubs in Blagoveshchensk and an active advocate for Ukrainian autonomy in the Far East. Alongside him was Petro Skurativskyi, leader of Ukrainian youth circles in Nikolsk-Ussuriysky, known as a talented publicist and orator.
Also receiving the death sentence were:
Kostiantyn Marchenko, an officer of the Ukrainian People’s Army accused of espionage for Japan;
Fedir Lytvyn, a teacher at a Ukrainian school and initiator of illegal cultural gatherings;
Stepan Levchenko, a cooperative member who assisted in supplying underground organizations;
Andriy Tkachuk, secretary of one of the cultural organizations, accused of connections with Japanese intelligence;
Mykhailo Shvets, a former Cossack ataman who sympathized with the Ukrainian movement and provided weapons to underground activists.
Until the very last moment, all of them defended their actions, emphasizing that their struggle was not against the people but for the right of Ukrainians to be themselves — to be Ukrainian.
Sentenced to 10–15 Years in Labor Camps
Twenty-eight people received long sentences in strict-regime labor camps. Among them was Yuriy Hlushko-Mova, leader of the «Ukrainian Far Eastern National Council,» engineer, theater actor, writer, and one of the main ideologists of the Ukrainian movement in the Far East. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
Similar sentences were given to:
Mykyta Lytvynenko, publisher of the newspaper «Zelenyi Klyn,» accused of anti-soviet propaganda;
Sava Palamarchuk, a veteran of the Ukrainian People’s Army;
Oleksiy Kramarenko, organizer of Ukrainian folk reading rooms in Khabarovsk;
Dmytro Lashchenko, who served as a liaison with Japanese consuls;
Ivan Nahornyi, a physician;
Anna Polytkovska, journalist and publisher;
Anton Hanzha, writer and publicist.
These people became victims not only of political suspicion but also of the broader soviet policy aimed at destroying the Ukrainian national movement in the Far Eastern region.
Sentenced to 5–10 Years in Labor Camps
Fifty-one people were sentenced to terms of five to ten years. These were mostly ordinary people — peasants, teachers, cooperators, and craftsmen who were actively involved in the life of Ukrainian organizations.
Among them stood out:
Fedir Kutsenko, librarian at a Ukrainian folk school (sentenced to eight years in labor camps);
Stepan Zubko, a peasant and member of the Ukrainian community in Nikolsk-Ussuriysky (seven years in camps);
Mykola Kharchenko, organizer of Sunday schools for Ukrainian children (six years imprisonment);
Hryhoriy Onyshchenko, craftsman and activist of the Ukrainian cooperative movement (five years in camps).
Most of them were accused of «assisting counter-revolutionary agitation» and «espionage for Japan,» although the actual evidence against them was often extremely dubious.
Exiled and Banned from Residing in Cities
All defendants received long sentences, and even those who received less severe but still destructive punishments were subjected to exile and banned from living both in the Far Eastern Krai and in the Ukrainian SSR. They were sent to remote regions of Siberia and forbidden to reside in major cities for periods of three to five years.
Among the exiled were:
Olena Chaikivska, a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature, prohibited from living in Primorye;
Vasyl Bondarenko, a typesetter, exiled to the Narym region;
Maria Lytvynenko, activist of Ukrainian cultural courses, sent to exile in the Turukhansky region;
Ivan Ryabenko, a musician, deprived of the right to live in the cities of the Far Eastern Krai and forced to live in remote villages.
For many of them, exile meant the effective destruction of their previous lives: they lost their homeland, profession, and social standing.
The Chita Trial became a symbol of the tragedy of the Ukrainian movement in the Far East
Under the blows of repression, leaders perished, cultural initiatives disappeared, Ukrainian newspapers and schools fell silent. Yet, despite years of memory erasure, the memory of those who fought for the freedom of Zelenyi Klyn remains alive today in the hearts of Far Eastern Ukrainians — a reminder of the price our ancestors were willing to pay for their national identity.
I would like to conclude with a quote from Yuriy Kosmych Hlushko-Mova during one of the trial sessions:
«Your strength is in the bayonets. Our strength is in the word. And this word will not perish.»
Author: Volodymyr Dubovskyi
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