Some people of the older generation are probably familiar with the word "Bandera". But this term has recently been heard by young people, even those who are far from politics and do not know history very well. So who are the Banderites, where did this name come from?
The origin of the term "Bandera"
Bandera refers not only to veterans of the UPA - the "Ukrainian Insurgent Army", but also other citizens of Ukraine who adhere to radical nationalist positions, often in combination with ardent Russophobia. This term is used to call supporters, ideological followers of one of the main leaders of Ukrainian nationalism - Stepan Bandera, who was born in 1909 on the territory of present-day Western Ukraine (then part of Galicia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). After Galicia was incorporated into Poland as a result of the Polish-Soviet war in 1920, Bandera joined the underground organization of Ukrainian nationalists. He moved quickly, showing good organizational skills, agitator talent, and unyielding, fanatical brutality. It was Bandera who organized a number of terrorist acts, including the murder of the Polish Interior Minister B. Peratsky, for which he was sentenced to be hanged. He was saved by the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939.
Released by the Germans from prison, Bandera began to cooperate with their special services. At the beginning of 1941, a split occurred between him and another leader of the Ukrainian nationalists A. Melnyk, since Bandera, unlike the staunch Germanophile Melnik, was ready to accept the help of the Germans only up to a certain stage. Since then, Ukrainian nationalists who sided with Bandera began to call themselves in honor of the leader - Bandera. Until his death in Munich in 1959, at the hands of a KGB agent, Bandera remained an ardent anti-Soviet and Russophobe, inspiring his supporters to armed resistance to Soviet power and terror.
The basis of the Bandera ideology
The ideology is based on extreme nationalism and readiness to use the most radical measures against people who do not support the creation of an independent Ukrainian state. Cooperating with the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War, and then up to the beginning of the 50s, waging an armed struggle against Soviet power, the Banderaites resorted to the most brutal terror against civilians - Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Jews. For example, it was the Banderites, who served in the 118th police guard battalion, who destroyed the notorious Belarusian village of Khatyn, along with all the inhabitants. Therefore, it is regrettable and condemnable that modern admirers of Bandera, regardless of the facts or common sense, are trying to whitewash both him and the Bandera people, calling them fighters for the freedom of Ukraine.
