Vasyl Kuk, the last commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), has died.

According to the President`s press-office, President Victor Yushchenko on Monday sent his condolences to Kuk’s family and friends. He said Kuk had been struggling for Ukraine until his last breath and had been a personification of Ukraine. Yushchenko described his life as a symbol of victory over the last century’s two totalitarian regimes.

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“Ukraine’s faithful son, Vasyl Kuk will forever stay in our memory as a paragon of loyalty to the people and selfless service to our state,” he said. 

V.Kuk died at the age of 95 on 9 September. He headed the Ukrainian Insurgent Army after the death of general Roman Shykhevych, and commanded till his arrest on 23 May 1954. He lived in Kyiv.

He will be buried, according to his will, in his native village of Krasne in the Buskiy district of the Lviv Oblast.