Commentary

Petro Kraliuk

On August 28 this year, the Omsk Regional Court satisfied the administrative claim of the regional department of the Ministry of Justice of Russia and decided to liquidate the Omsk regional public organization "Siberian Center of Ukrainian Culture" Gray Wedge ". This is another link in the "cleansing" of Ukrainians in the Russian Federation, which has been purposefully carried out for the past 10 years. Thus, in 2010 the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Ukrainians in Russia was liquidated in court, and in 2012 another all-Russian organization, the Association of Ukrainians in Russia, was liquidated.

The Ukrainian authorities should react to such things. After all, they were a warning. After all, the Russian leadership launched an attack on Ukrainians. However, an adequate reaction from the then Ukrainian authorities, led by President Viktor Yanukovych, could not be expected. After all, this government, at the suggestion of Russian curators, was actually engaged in the destruction of the Ukrainian in Ukraine and the planting of the "Russian world" here.

After the Revolution of Dignity, the "cleansing" of Ukrainians in the Russian Federation entered a new stage. In 2017, the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow was closed, and in 2019, the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia recognized the World Congress of Ukrainians as an "undesirable organization." Now they have begun to "deal" with the regional institutions of Ukrainians in Russia. In this context, the liquidation of the public organization "Gray Wedge" is quite natural.

The current Russian leadership (and there is no need to have illusions!) Is at war with Ukraine and all Ukrainians. This is not only a "hot war" in Donbass, but also a large-scale information war in Ukraine itself and an "internal war" against Ukrainians in Russia.

Honestly, do not have to wait for a tough response to harassment Ukrainian ( In an interview with Radio Svoboda , Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine should "seriously reconsider its policy on foreign Ukrainian", particularly on how the state can help Ukrainian Ukrainian in Russia "in the conditions of almost total control of the FSB, under which they are" - ed. ), living in the Russian Federation, from the current Ukrainian government, which naively (?) dreams of peace in the Donbass.

However, we would like to thank Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba , who publicly condemned the ban on the Gray Wedge, saying: "We strongly protest against these repressive actions and demand that Russia adhere to international law and recognized democratic norms in this matter."

Ukrainian revival on the Gray Wedge

In fact, we know little about the Gray Wedge - not about a public organization, but about a large region inhabited by Ukrainians. This is the so-called Central Asian steppe of modern northern Kazakhstan, southern Omsk and Novosibirsk regions, as well as the Altai Territory of the Russian Federation.

The penetration of Ukrainians into this region dates back to the 16th century, when Muscovy expanded here. In the days of the Russian Empire, rebellious Ukrainians were often sent to the Gray Wedge. For example, in 1770 138 Cossacks - participants of Koliivshchyna - were sent here. In 1741–1742, the Metropolitan of Siberia and Tobolsk here was Arseniy (Matsievych) , a Ukrainian from Volhynia , who was tortured to death in 1772 by order of Catherine II.

The mass settlement of the Gray Wedge by Ukrainians began in the late 19th century. They went here, hoping to get land. For them, the local conditions of the steppe and forest-steppe were familiar. In addition, they went to the Gray Wedge from different regions of Ukraine - the Left Bank, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Volyn. According to the 1897 census, there were more than 200,000 Ukrainians in this region, which was a lot for the sparsely populated Siberian lands.

The next wave of Ukrainian migration to this region came after the revolution of 1905–1907 and was connected with the Stolypin reform. Another wave occurred during the First World War. The tsarist government relocated many Ukrainians from the Kholm region, which was occupied by German troops. Many prisoners of the Austro-Hungarian army were also taken to the Gray Wedge, including Ukrainians, mostly from Galicia and Bukovina.

Despite the fact that the absolute majority of Ukrainians in the Gray Wedge were peasants who, in fact, did not have their own organizations, they still proved to be quite active after the February Revolution of 1917. Not the least role was played by nationally conscious Galician Ukrainians. On March 23, 1917, the first mass demonstration of Ukrainians took place in Tomsk .

Ukrainian organizations emerged in Omsk, Tomsk, Slavgorod, Kurgan, Biysk, Kainsk, Novomykolayivsk (modern Novosibirsk), and so on. The newspapers "Ukrainian Voice" were published in Omsk and "Ukrainian Word" in Tomsk.

From July 30 to August 6, 1917, the First Ukrainian Congress of Siberia took place in Omsk, which created a representative body of local Ukrainians - the Main Ukrainian Council of Siberia. A year later, on August 11-13, 1918, the second such congress took place, which demanded self-government for Siberian Ukrainians.

Shortly after the Bolshevik coup in October 1917, power in Siberia came into the hands of the Provisional All-Russian Government, headed by Admiral Alexander Kolchak as Commander-in-Chief. The latter became one of the leaders of the "white movement" and fought for a "united and indivisible" Russia.

The Whites, despite their pro-Russian chauvinist policies, still had to pay attention to Ukrainians in Siberia. Moreover, the latter organized a number of military units - Samara Volunteer Ukrainian Regiment, 1st Ukrainian Infantry Regiment named after Hetman Petro Sagaidachny, 2nd Ukrainian Rifle Regiment, 1st Carpathian Russian Regiment, Taras Shevchenko Hut, Regiment named after Petro Doronsky battalion named after Ataman Maxim Zaliznyak. These military units mainly fought against the Bolsheviks.

Ukrainians on the Gray Wedge also created their own territorial-administrative units - the Altai Ukrainian Provincial Council in Kainsk, Tomsk and Novomykolayiv Ukrainian District Councils, as well as the Akmola Ukrainian Council, which operated in what is now northern Kazakhstan. All of them were represented in the Siberian Parliament. And the Main Ukrainian Council of Siberia was located in Omsk.

Migration and Russification

The establishment of Soviet power in the region in the early 1920s led to the collapse of the Ukrainian movement here.

The 1926 census showed that about a million Ukrainians lived in the Gray Wedge. Here they were the largest ethnic group (about 40% of the total population). For example, in the Slavgorod district there were 47% Ukrainians, in the Kustanai district - 41.3%. However, the cultural needs of Ukrainians in this region were not adequately met - even when in the 1920s - early 1930s in the USSR pursued a policy of indigenization.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Gray Wedge became the site of another Ukrainian migration. There were various reasons for this. Some Ukrainians, as repressed, were exiled or deported here. For example, in 1939–1941, a large number of Ukrainians were deported to Western Ukraine from the Gray Wedge. Some groups of Ukrainians found themselves in industrial buildings in the region. During the German-Soviet war of 1941–1945, some people from Ukraine were evacuated here.

The activities of the public organization "Gray Wedge" turned out to be undesirable for the Russian government, which operates on the old imperial principle: Russia must have everything Russian

In 1953–1959, the Soviet government developed the so-called virgin lands, including the Gray Wedge. For this purpose, a large number of "virgins" from Ukraine were mobilized, who mostly found themselves in the territory of present-day North Kazakhstan.

During the post-1926 censuses in the USSR, Ukrainians outside the USSR were often recorded as Russians. Therefore, it is problematic to talk about their real number. In addition, they did not have institutions that would meet their national and cultural needs. Under such conditions, Ukrainians became Russified.

And yet some of our fellow tribesmen have preserved their identity on the Gray Wedge. Evidence of this was the activities of the public organization "Gray Wedge", which until recently officially operated in Russia. However, even its activities (mostly cultural!) Turned out to be undesirable for the Russian government, which operates on the old imperial principle: Russia must have everything Russian. And, of course, there should be no place for Ukrainian here.

Here is a series of photos from the site "Gray Wedge", which was created in 2000, but it did not receive further development. The site contains, in particular, photos from the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Ukrainian public organization "Siberian Center of Ukrainian Culture" Cyry Wedge.