Stepan Bandera

Stepan Bandera

Stepan Andriyovych Bandera (Ukrainian: Степан Андрійович Бандера) (1 January 1909 – 15 October 1959) was a Ukrainian politician and one of the leaders of Ukrainian national movement in occupied Western Ukraine (Galicia), who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). The son of a clerical family, Bandera was an activist, a scout, and eventually the leader of the Ukrainian nationalist movement.

During his political career, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) split into two factions: the OUN-M and the OUN-B. Stepan Bandera was responsible for the proclamation of an Independent Ukrainian State in Lviv on 30 June 1941.

Soviet authorities authorised the KGB to assassinate him which took place in Munich, West Germany, on 15 October 1959.

On July 6, 1941 Bandera was arrested and later imprisoned by the Nazis; in September 1944 he was released. Assessments have ranged from totally apologetic to sharply negative. On 22 January 2010, the outgoing President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko awarded to Bandera the title of Hero of Ukraine (posthumously). The award was condemned by Jewish and Russian opinion, and was declared illegal by a Ukrainian court in April 2010. In January 2011, under President Viktor Yanukovych, the award was officially annulled.