Volodymyr Birchak’s Lecture on UPA History for Ukraine’s Tech Sports Team
As part of the training camp for Ukraine’s national technology sports team, historian Volodymyr Birchak gave a lecture-discussion titled «Why the History of UPA Matters Today.» The training camp is organized by the Federation of Technology Sports of Ukraine with support from the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and F-Drones.
During the meeting, discussion covered the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) as a component of the Ukrainian liberation movement, its formation and activities during and after World War II. Volodymyr Birchak spoke about the scale of the insurgent movement, the territories where UPA and the underground operated, support from the population, raids beyond Ukraine’s borders, the everyday life of the insurgents, the medical service, and the participation of representatives of various nationalities in the liberation movement.
The historian emphasized the duration of the armed resistance against the Nazi and Soviet totalitarian regimes and the continuity of the traditions of the Ukrainian liberation movement in today’s Ukrainian army.
“Today we have our own state. However, for many centuries Ukrainians were divided among different states and empires and did not have their own independent state. And when a people has no state of its own — that is a tragedy. Then Ukrainians can end up on different sides of the front and be forced to fight against one another, as happened during the First and Second World Wars. That is exactly why the history of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army remains important and relevant for us today. UPA was a component of the Ukrainian liberation movement,” said Volodymyr Birchak, historian, archivist, head of academic programs at the Center for Liberation Movement Research, veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, reserve lieutenant.
The lecture was part of the training camp for Ukraine’s national technology sports team.
