Union of Salvation

Union of Salvation (Russian: Союз спасения; Soiuz spaseniia). One of the first clandestine political organizations in the Russian Empire and a forerunner of the Decembrist movement. It was founded in Saint Petersburg in February 1816 by a group of guard officers, including A. and N. Muravev, Prince S. Trubetskoi, and Pavel Pestel. Some of its 25 to 30 members were Ukrainian by descent or had close ties with Ukraine: Matvei Muravev-Apostol and Sergei Muravev-Apostol, V. Volkhovsky, A. Poltoratsky, and Mikhail Novikov. Its goal was to abolish serfdom and absolutism and to establish a constitutional monarchy. In the spring of 1817 the union was dissolved and replaced by the Union of Welfare.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]