The Ukrainian Republican Party was the first party in Ukraine presenting an alternative to the Communist Party. It was created on the basis of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union at a founding congress on 29 April 1990 by re-registering the members of the UHU (of whom there were around 2,300, with about a quarter not wishing to re-register). The congress approved the name of the Party, the charter, program and elected as leader Levko LUKYANENKO, with his deputies Stepan KHMARA and H. Hrebenyuk, and formed a Council which elected its executive body – the secretariat. The Party was registered with the Ministry of Justice on 5.11.1990. From 1992 – 1995 the Party was headed by Mykhailo HORYN.
The Party united many former political prisoners and played a major role in the development of Ukrainian statehood and civic society. At present there are several different factions of the URP.