Organizing the repatriation of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and Romania (1919)

The article highlights the main activities of the Ukrainian Military and Sanitary Mission in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and analyzes the difficulties faced by its members due to the open pro-Russian views of the vast majority of Serbian authorities. As a result, it was forced to reorganize into an apolitical representative office of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, which, despite all the obstacles of A. Denikin’s diplomatic agents, found opportunities to provide limited consular and humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian repatriates. Under the pressure of political circumstances, the mission was forced to move its headquarters to Romania, where an extensive infrastructure was created to support the repatriation process of Ukrainian POWs. However, the complication of the military and political situation in the UPR at the end of 1919 and the inability to provide funding for the mission’s work led to its ultimate liquidation.