SOROKA, SEMEN KLYMENTIIOVYCH

SOROKA, SEMEN KLYMENTIIOVYCH (b. 1928 in the village of Krychylsk, Sarny district, Rivne oblast – d. 1999, city of Sarny). Imprisoned for participation in the “Krychylsk Youth OUN.” He escaped from the camp and was imprisoned again. From a peasant family. He was in his second year at the Kostopil College of Agricultural Mechanization when he was arrested in early 1952 for distributing nationalist leaflets and participating in the underground youth group “Krychylsk Youth OUN.” On August 26, 1952, along with his brother Stepan Soroka, the brothers Sydir and Ivan Kharechko, and Kyrylo Banatsky—a total of 8 people—he was sentenced by the Military Tribunal of the MGB troops of the Rivne oblast to 25 years of imprisonment each. They served their sentences in the “Mineral Directorate of Camps” (“Minlag”) in the city of Inta, Komi ASSR. On the night of October 4-5, 1954, Soroka, along with a group of comrades (7 people), made a desperate escape from the work zone of mine No. 11. They had dug a 40-meter-long tunnel from a ventilation drift leading out into the tundra. It was exhausting work that lasted 7 months, during which they also had to meet their production quotas. Six people went into the tundra, where they were quickly caught (as the first snow had already fallen) and returned to the camps. Soroka, however, went to the Inta railway station, boarded a Vorkuta-Moscow train, and made his way to Ukraine. This was a success for the entire community of political prisoners. The future organizers of the underground “Obyednannia” (Unity) (1956–1959), Kyrylo Banatsky, Volodymyr Leoniuk, Bohdan Khrystynych, and others were involved in preparing the escape. Yosyf Drahomyretsky stole a passport from a civilian employee, while Zynoviy Myshko replaced the photograph, forged the official stamp, and made the necessary entries in the passport. The train ticket was bought in advance by Mariika Balii, who continued to work at the mine after her release. Soroka remained in hiding in Ukraine for a year and two months. He was captured in January 1956 and sent to the camps in Vorkuta, Komi ASSR. He knew about the activities of the underground organization “Obyednannia” and was a sympathizer. He was released from custody by a resolution of the Commission of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR but was arrested again. However, a few months later, in 1958, he was released for good. He returned to Ukraine and settled with his family in the city of Kirovohrad. During the era of perestroika and after independence, he took an active part in Ukrainian public and political life. Bibliography: Khrystynych, Bohdan. Na shliakhakh do voli. Pidpilna orhanizatsiia “Obyednannia” (1956-1959) [On the Paths to Freedom. The Underground Organization “Unity” (1956-1959)]. – Lviv, 2004. – pp. 25-26; 173-174. Compiled by Vasyl Ovsiienko on February 26, 2009, based on B. Khrystynych’s book. Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. This profile would benefit from further additions and revisions.