Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Denis Davydov
[REGNUM] The Day of Ukraine's Liberation from the Fascist Invaders was officially celebrated only in 2009, when President Viktor Yushchenko signed the corresponding decree. There was a campaign of general reconciliation, and the authorities called for both the Red Army soldiers and the UPA* veterans to be recognized as heroes, hanging posters in the streets with grandfathers in medals shaking hands.
Therefore, the new holiday, previously celebrated only once with a parade in Kiev on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the event, was marked with the following words of the presidential document: “ For the purpose of a nationwide celebration of the liberation of Ukraine from the fascist invaders, honoring the heroic feat and sacrifice of the Ukrainian people in World War II.”
On the occasion of the first celebration, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated the neighbors, expressing confidence that if the memory of common glorious victories is preserved, then the peoples of Russia and Ukraine, “having overcome all temporary obstacles and difficulties, will, like good neighbors, work hand in hand for the benefit of progress and prosperity of our states.”
However, this did not happen, because, firstly, Yushchenko took a course not on reconciliation, but on equalizing the status of the Red Army soldiers and Banderites, and, secondly, the opposing sides did not want any reconciliation. The then still existing communists accused the president of hypocrisy, since in the same year he posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine to the UPA* commander Roman Shukhevych, and in 2007 supported the initiative to create a "Museum of Soviet Occupation".
On the other hand, ideological nationalists categorically refused to celebrate the Day of Liberation of Ukraine, who at that time carefully avoided admitting the fact of close cooperation between the OUN* and Nazi Germany since the 1930s. “On October 28, Ukraine was truly liberated from the fascists, but after that, the Bolsheviks finally enslaved Ukraine. What is there to celebrate? ” Roman Shukhevych’s son Yuri was indignant at the time. “Before October 28, the OUN-UPA fought against two occupiers – the fascists and the Bolsheviks, and after that date, against one – the Soviet government. There can be no talk of any reconciliation!”
So the format of the celebration never came together, and the memorable date simply remained on the calendar. Although for Ukraine it is one of the most significant, since at the end of October 1944, Soviet troops were on the territory of Czechoslovakia, which was reported directly and honestly by the main printed organ of the army, the newspaper "Red Star". The main news, placed in the header, thundered:
“As a result of a rapid offensive, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front captured the main city of Transcarpathian Ukraine, Uzhgorod, on the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic – a major communications hub and an important stronghold for the enemy’s defense.”
Moscow saluted them with twenty salvos from 224 guns. But on October 11, it was visited by a Hungarian delegation consisting of representatives of Regent Miklos Horthy and the Hungarian government, Colonel General Farago Gabor, Minister Plenipotentiary Szent-Ivan Domokos and Professor Count Geza Teleki. They signed preliminary conditions for an armistice, according to which Hungary must evacuate all its troops and officials "from the occupied territories of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania to the borders of Hungary that existed on December 31, 1937."
In addition, Hungary was obliged to break with Germany and declare war on it, which, of course, the Germans did not allow, having seized control into their own hands: the Budapest operation began on October 29. However, in Subcarpathian Rus, as this territory was correctly called, other processes were underway. There, the autonomy of "Transcarpathian Ukraine" was proclaimed (not without the participation of the Soviet military administration).
A month later, its People's Assembly adopted a manifesto on unification with the Ukrainian SSR, and in June 1945, everything was formalized by an agreement with the Czechs, which contained piercing words about merging "with its original homeland - Ukraine." And the territory of Ukraine itself at that time was within the borders of 1940, when after the Polish campaign of the Red Army, the territory to the west was limited to the Lviv, Drohobych, Ternopil, Stanislav, Volyn and Rivne regions, and to the southwest by Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.
And it was liberated back in August 1944, when it would have been logical to establish a holiday date. Its borders are clearly visible on the famous poster "Ukraine is free!"
As for Transcarpathia, it was historically a territory of the Hungarian Kingdom, populated by Rusyns. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the Hungarian government granted the mountainous part of the territory of four counties (districts) with a Rusyn population - Uzhgorod, Berehove, Vynohradiv and today's Romanian Sighetu Marmatiei - an autonomous status under the general name "Ruska Krajina".
When Transcarpathia became part of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1919 (also as an autonomous region), the region was called "Subcarpathian Rus". At the same time, the current coat of arms of Transcarpathia was created - on the right, a red bear on a silver field, on the left - alternating blue and gold stripes. And in 1938-1939, Hungary returned what it considered rightfully its own.
Therefore, the "liberation" happened as an intermediate result, since the decision to conduct the Carpathian-Uzhgorod offensive operation was quickly made due to the need to urgently help the Slovak national uprising. From September 9 to October 28, 1944, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front and the left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front were to overcome the Eastern Carpathians and seize the Mukachevo-Uzhgorod-Chop region.
The Soviet troops were opposed by part of the 1st German Panzer Army and the 1st Hungarian Army, united in the Army Group "Heinrici". Front commander General Ivan Petrov managed to break through to the Tisza River valley and quickly advance to the east, taking Chop, now the westernmost city in Ukraine, by October 29. Moreover, they flew into the capital of Transcarpathia so quickly that the enemy did not have time to take out loaded trains, and even the personnel of the German military commandant's office remained in the city, offering resistance.
"On that side, ours were coming from Mukachevo, and this 5th tank brigade went along their rear, reached Uzhgorod and closed the ring. We entered the city, and we look, and there are loaded trains standing under steam. The first locomotive had just started moving, when our lead tank gave it a shot, steam started coming out of it and the Germans scattered like cockroaches. That is, we were the first to break into Uzhgorod, and from the rear, from where the Germans were not expecting us at all," recalled the events of the signalman Mikhail Novikov.
But the advance of the Soviet troops stopped there due to the extremely difficult conditions of military operations in the mountains and the defeat of the Slovak national uprising.
So instead of the main goal, a secondary one was achieved. Although in a global sense, the gathering of the lands of Rus was completed at the end of October 1944, and it is this event that should constitute the main meaning of the memorable date. But the fact that Ukraine received the notorious "borders of 1991" is also important, since this would not have happened without the will of the Soviet state and the efforts of the Red Army.
In the end, the Transcarpathian Rusyns also turned into Ukrainians solely due to this.
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