THE MOSCOPHILE MOVEMENT AS A TARGET OF SOVIET INFLUENCE ON THE SOCIO-POLITICAL SITUATION IN WESTERN UKRAINE IN THE 1920S
THE MOSCOPHILE MOVEMENT AS A TARGET OF SOVIET INFLUENCE ON THE SOCIO-POLITICAL SITUATION IN WESTERN UKRAINE IN THE 1920S

Summary/Abstract: This article offers a comprehensive analysis of how Soviet diplomatic structures instrumentalized a segment of the Russophile movement in Eastern Galicia to form the left-radical party "Sel-Rob" as a legal political base for subversive activities in Western Ukraine. This influence was directed both against the institutions of the Polish state and the diverse ideological currents of the Ukrainian national movement. Drawing upon the principles of objectivity, historicism, credibility, scientific rigor, and methodological pluralism, the study identifies a specific branch of the Russophile movement as a tool of Soviet geopolitical strategy in interwar Poland. The ideological foundations, political platform, and organizational structure of this faction are examined as a basis for the creation of "Sel-Rob" - a party formed through the merger of the leftist "Narodna Volia" and the "Peasants' Union," under the guidance of Soviet diplomats in Warsaw. The article introduces into scholarly circulation previously unpublished archival materials from the Central State Archives of Public Associations of Ukraine, the Central State Historical Archives in Lviv and the State Archives of the Lviv Region. The historiographic basis of the research includes both general works of modern Ukrainian historiography and focused studies by scholars such as O. Vlasiuk, R. Husak, L. Matiushko, V. Misko, M. Pyrih, I. Soliar. However, the specific role of the Russophile element within "Narodna Volia" and its coordination by Soviet diplomats has remained largely overlooked. This study addresses that gap, framing it within the broader historical context of hybrid methods used by Soviet Russia, the USSR, and the Russian Federation to undermine the Ukrainian national movement - particularly in Western Ukraine during the interwar period. The scholarly novelty lies in the identification and analysis of a previously underexplored mechanism of Soviet influence through the creation and support of a far-left legal political entity intended to destabilize the socio-political landscape of Western Ukraine in the 1920s.

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