Ukrainian National Union (political party)

Ukrainian National Union Український Національний Союз
Abbreviation	UNU
Leader	Vitaly Krivosheev
Spokesperson	Oleg Goltvyansky
Founded	December 19, 2009
Merger of	Alliance of Patriotic Forces
Headquarters	Kiev; Kharkiv
Ideology	Neo-Nazism, Ultranationalism, Ukrainian nationalism
Political position	Far-right
Party flag
Website
naso.org.ua
Politics of Ukraine Political parties Elections

UNU protest in Kiev.

The Ukrainian National Union (Ukrainian: Український Національний Союз; abbreviated UNU) is a Ukrainian far-right organisation. It was founded in 2009 and was a member of Social-National Assembly until 2013.

History

The UNU was founded on December 19, 2009. Its first branches were opened in the cities of Kharkiv, Poltava and Liubotyn.^[1] The leader of the UNU was Oleg Goltvyansky, until July 15, 2012 when he was replaced by incumbent Vitaly Krivosheev.^[2]

The UNU is an active organiser of political demonstrations, such as marches in Kiev,^[3] Kharkov^[4][5][6] and Poltava, done in honour of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army,^[7][8] and marches against illegal immigration in Kharkov,^{[9][10][11][12]} amongst other activities.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}

The UNU often directs its activities against groups it perceives as hostile to the Ukrainian state, such as pro-Russian groups during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine and separatists in the War in Donbass.^[20][21][22]

On October 26, 2012, the UNU established of the paramilitary Alliance of Patriotic Forces.^[23]

On April 27, 2013, UNU leaders announced their intentions to create a Ukrainian Nazi party.^[24][25][26] Until May 22, 2013, the UNU was a member of the Social-National Assembly.^[27][28]

The UNU was an organiser in the Euromaidan protests.^[29][30] During the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, UNU paramilitaries were active in street riots in Kiev.^{[31][32][33][34]}

In March 2014, Vitaly Krivosheev and Artem Golovko were arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service in Rostov Oblast. According to Russian media, the pair were accused of planning terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage in Russian territory.^[35][36][37]

Members of the UNU's paramilitary were active in the War in Donbass,^[38] On the basis of the Ukrainian National Union was created by the battalion "Pechersk".^[39][40] until it disbanded in the winter of 2015, after the battles in the Luhansk region.^[41][42][43]

See also

• Patriot of Ukraine
• Right Sector
• Social-National Assembly
• Svoboda
• Tryzub

References

External links

• Ukrainian National UNU official website
• @Ukrainian_union on Twitter