Ukraine demands Russia open Soviet-era archives on NKVD crimes

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has called on the international community to condemn the crimes of the Soviet regime and demanded that Russia open its archives and release documents related to crimes committed by the Soviet secret police agency, the NKVD.

The ministry said this in a statement on the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions, Ukrinform reports.

"We bow our heads in memory of the millions of people who suffered repressions, persecution, torture, arrests, and moral and physical destruction at the hands of the Soviet regime. The Bykivnia Forest, Demianiv Laz, Sucha Balka, Piatykhatky, Rutchenkove Pole, Sandarmokh, and other sites will never be forgotten. These wounds will remain forever in our national memory. At the same time, each such scar serves as a reminder of what we are fighting for today: our people's right to exist, and our own freedom, life, and dignity," the ministry said.

It added that the millions of crimes committed by the Soviet regime were never properly condemned, investigated, or punished.

"It is this total impunity that has led to the mass Russian atrocities during the Russian Federation's current war of aggression against Ukraine," the statement reads.

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Ukraine called on the international community to remember "every executed life, every broken destiny, every destroyed world" and to firmly condemn Soviet crimes while demanding accountability for both past and present atrocities.

The ministry also urged support for independent historical inquiries and research, as well as the dissemination of facts regarding the criminal nature of the Soviet regime.

"We demand that Moscow stop hiding the truth from the world, open its archives, and release documents regarding the crimes of the NKVD and other atrocities of the Soviet era. This will, among other things, make it possible to establish the true names of the perpetrators and their victims, and restore historical justice," the statement said.

The ministry also recalled remarks by Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who said during the legal launch of the Special Tribunal in Chisinau that over the past centuries, Ukraine has suffered too many atrocities, oppression, occupations, world wars, genocides, Stalinist repressions, Chornobyl, and other crimes, but it has never seen true justice.

"Today, Ukraine and the world have a real chance to break this vicious cycle of impunity. This is precisely why all current accountability mechanisms are so critical. These include the Special Tribunal, the Register of Damages, the Claims Commission, as well as investigations by the International Criminal Court, national justice, and the efforts of non-governmental organizations around the world. Without justice for the victims of Moscow's crimes—both past and present—there will be no lasting peace, stability, or security on the European continent. The world has no moral right to fail," the ministry said.

Ukraine marks the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions annually on the third Sunday of May.

The number of victims of political repression in Ukraine still cannot be established with precision. Historians estimate that nearly 1.5 million people in Ukraine were subjected to political repression during the rule of the Bolshevik-Communist regime from the early 1920s to the late 1980s.

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