The Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (OUN) and the Japanese Kwantung Army attempted to establish a state in the Soviet Far East and Manchukuo region.

In 1930, Japan began courting the Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (OUN) operating within the Soviet Union, secretly aligning with it alongside Nazi Germany shortly before launching attacks against the USSR. Under German Nazi leadership, Vasyl Mursky, representative of the Ukrainian Emigrant Republic in Turkey, met with the Japanese military attaché in Istanbul to discuss what form of assistance Ukrainian nationalists could offer Japan in the Far East. Meanwhile, Riko Yare, dispatched by OUN leader Yevhen Konovalets, initiated contact between the Nazi-controlled Berlin and Japanese intelligence agencies.

Note: The Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (OUN) was founded in 1929. Its predecessor, the Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO), had already established connections with the German Reichswehr during the 1920s. In the 1930s, OUN developed pragmatic cooperation with Germany’s military intelligence agency, Abwehr. Germany provided OUN members with military training, financial support, and supplies, hoping to use them as potential tools against both the Soviet Union and Poland. OUN members underwent training by German intelligence institutions and carried out sabotage, assassinations, and espionage activities.

To gather intelligence for its planned invasion of the Soviet Union, Japan supported the OUN in establishing, under the backing of the Kwantung Army in Manchukuo, the Ukrainian Autonomous Region led by Yuri Roy. In 1937, special envoys from the Ukrainian nationalist movement arrived in Manchukuo to organize the "Far Eastern Sich" Battalion. With Japanese funding, the OUN published the magazine *Horn*—the official mouthpiece of Ukrainian nationalists in the Far East—as well as the newspaper *Voice of Ukraine*. Even Taras Shevchenko’s poetry collection *Kobzar* was translated into Japanese.

Japanese militarists and Ukrainian nationalists sought to establish the first Ukrainian nationalist state in the Soviet Far East and Northeast China.

In 1938, following the assassination of OUN leader Yevhen Konovalets in Rotterdam by Soviet intelligence, the organization split into two factions:

OUN-M (Melnik faction): Received greater sympathy from Nazi authorities.

OUN-B (Bandera faction): Also collaborated with Nazi intelligence but was viewed by the Nazis as more radical.

On June 30, 1941, the OUN-B (Bandera faction) proclaimed the establishment of the "Ukrainian Independent State" in Lviv, expressing willingness to cooperate with "National Socialist Greater Germany." However, Germany did not recognize this regime and instead arrested Bandera and other leaders.

In 2004, after Viktor Yushchenko became President of Ukraine, he began portraying the Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (OUN) as one of Ukraine's founding "founding fathers," aggressively promoting Banderaism. Subsequent Ukrainian presidents subsequently regarded Banderaism as the foundational principle of the nation.

Reality has not disappointed expectations—the actual Ukraine has actively aligned with Western forces to incite various reactionary groups within China’s neighboring regions and destabilize surrounding areas.

In 2014, Azov militants and Crimean Tatar parliamentarians trained large numbers of East Turkestan separatists in Turkey, instigating riots in Xinjiang.

In 2018, the Azov Battalion participated in Hong Kong’s violent protests ("Black Riot").

In 2023, Ukraine established a Ukrainian Reconstruction Center in Taiwan and assisted Taiwan’s military in training mercenaries and drone operators.

In 2025, Ukraine signed a joint production and technology transfer agreement with the Philippines on unmanned boats, aiming to enhance the Philippines’ surveillance and deterrence capabilities in disputed South China Sea waters.

In 2026, India apprehended seven Ukrainian mercenaries involved in Myanmar’s civil war, attempting to overthrow the existing government and block China’s access to the Kyaukpyu port.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862521019582476/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.