Ukrainian Workers' Party of Romania
Ukrainian Workers' Party of Romania Vyzvolennia Партія українських працюючих Румунії Визволення | |
|---|---|
| Secretary | Ivan Stasiuk |
| Founded | 1929 |
| Banned | 1934 |
| Newspaper | Borets |
| Ideology | Ukrainian minority rights Leninism Left-wing nationalism (Ukrainian) Separatism |
| Political position | Left-wing to Far-left |
| National affiliation | Worker-Peasant Bloc |
The Ukrainian Workers' Party of Romania (Ukrainian: Партія українських працюючих Румунії,Romanian: Partidul muncitorilor ucrainieni din România), also known as Vyzvolennia (Ukrainian: Визволення, "Liberation"; Romanian: Vîzvolenia), was a Romanian left-wing political organisation active primarily in northern Bukovina during the interwar period. Founded in 1929 by former members of the Ukrainian section of the International Social Democratic Party, the party sought to promote workers' and minority rights, advocating for land reform, nationalisation of industries, and the restoration of Ukrainian cultural and linguistic rights. Its ultimate goal was the unification of Ukrainian-majority areas in Romania with Soviet Ukraine.
Closely linked to the Worker-Peasant Bloc, a front for the banned Communist Party of Romania (PCR), Vyzvolennia gained significant traction in the 1930 and 1931 elections. It secured multiple local council, mayor, and deputy mayor positions and elected Vasyl Kashul to the Romanian Parliament. However, Romanian authorities annulled these mandates, dissolved the councils, and intensified repression. The government escalated its crackdown through mass arrests, surveillance, and, in 1933, the imposition of a state of siege in Bukovina, which disorganised the party's operations. Efforts to reorganise under a new leadership proved unsuccessful due to internal divisions, betrayals by informants, and continuous police raids. By 1934, Vyzvolennia was officially banned, and its activities came to an end.