Union of Ukrainian youth: myths and reality (based on the materials of the GDA SBU)

The purpose of the article is to analyze archival materials, memoirs of participants, and researchers’ works to highlight the preconditions for the formation, reality of existence, and scope of activities of an organized youth group called the Union of Ukrainian Youth (Spilka Ukrainskoi Molodi - SUM), which at the beginning of its activity was called the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine and gave its name to the famous 1930 trial in Kharkiv. The end of the national liberation struggle of 1917-1921 raised difficult questions for researchers: did the struggle end or did it move on to other forms? Analyzing the memoirs of the participants of that time, archival materials of the GDA SBU and available research by Ukrainian scholars, we can conclude that the struggle existed, but in a different form - in an evolutionary, preparatory one, during which separate groups of supporters of the idea of Ukraine’s independence were formed, independent of each other. The methodological basis of the study is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, systematicity, and comprehensiveness, which allow for a thorough analysis of archival materials and scientific articles related to the topic. The scientific novelty of the publication lies in the fact that, on the basis of published and unpublished archival materials, the preconditions, formation of the program and the formation of the SUM are studied. Conclusions. The organization was one of the numerous resistance groups to the Bolshevik regime in Ukraine. Mykola Pavlushkov, a nephew of the well-known Ukrainian socio-political figure Serhiy Yefremov, became the leader of the SUM. M. Pavlushkov’s socio-political views were formed under the influence of the patriotic environment of the school and communication with representatives of the older generation, such as S. Yefremov, V. Durdukivskyi, O. Hermaize, V. Chekhivskyi, and others. The formation of the SUM took place on the basis of separate groups of young people who were active in the Kyiv region and adjacent regions, distributing anti-Bolshevik leaflets and calling for the restoration of Ukraine’s independence.