Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine

The SSU Sectoral State Archive is one of the most accessible KGB archives among the post-Soviet countries. Documents stored here cover the period from 1918 to the collapse of the Soviet Union. There are almost 224,000 volumes of documents in Kyiv alone and over 735,000 volumes stored in the regional offices. The Archive was established in 1994. Its documents are included in the national archival fund and are of substantial historic value. Since 2015, all documents from the Soviet period are free to access. Many people have been able to find information about relatives subjugated during the Soviet era. The activities of the Soviet special services were declassified under the Law on Access to the Archives of the Repressive Agencies of the Communist Totalitarian Regime of 1917-1991. A significant part of the Archive is criminal proceedings against Ukrainian activists repressed between 1920-1980. In particular, the archive covers the proceedings of Yurii Tiutiunnyk, Serhii Yefremov, Mykola Kulish, Vasyl Stus and Vyacheslav Chornovol and the proceedings of more than 100,000 individuals. The archive also includes declassified documents covering Holodomor (1932-1933), activity of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), Soviet dissidents, and the Chornobyl disaster. A separate archive comprises the textbooks and materials for training of the special services during the Soviet era and documents of creative unions and organisations, including the OUN and UPA. A significant proportion of the documents and photographs have been digitised and are free to access. Other documents can be found in the reading room of the Archive. Declassified documents about the Chornobyl disaster have been submitted to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.