Melnykites

Melnykites (Melnykivtsi). The colloquial name for those members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) who supported Col Andrii Melnyk after the schism in the organization in 1940. They followed the political and ideological program of the Leadership of Ukrainian Nationalists (PUN) as established by the resolutions of the Second Grand Assembly of Ukrainian Nationalists in Rome in 1939. After Melnyk's death Oleh Shtul, Denys Kvitkovsky, and Mykola Plaviuk assumed the leadership of the faction. Compared to their breakaway rivals, the Banderites, the Melnykites adhered closely to the initial principles of the OUN and were therefore considered conservative. In 1946 they abandoned their preference for a single-party system and espoused a policy of ‘national solidarism’ and political pluralism. They subsequently cofounded and were active in the Ukrainian National Council (Kyiv). Major pro-Melnykite organizations include the Ukrainian National Federation (UNO) in Canada, the Organization for the Rebirth of Ukraine (ODVU) in the United States, the Union for Agricultural Education in Brazil, the Vidrodzhennia society in Argentina, the Ukrainian National Alliance in France, and the Federation of Ukrainians in Great Britain.