Opryshky
Opryshky were groups of fighters for freedom active in the region of Ukrainian Carpathians between the 16th and early 19th century. Consisting of runaway peasants, noblemen's servants and, in a latter period, dodgers from conscription, they formed small groups headed by individual leaders and attacked noble estates, keeps, tax farmers, tavern keepers, merchants and wealthy peasants. In some cases part of their booty would be distributed among the poorer peasantry. This contributed to the image of Opryshky as popular heroes and protectors of the common folk, which rooted itself in Ukrainian folklore and literature.
The Ukrainian "opryshok" is analogous to the Polish zbójnik and the Balkan hajduk, as similar bands of bandits were present in other parts of the Carpathian Mountains as well, including the Polish and Slovak Tatras that have birthed the legendary highwayman Juraj Jánošík.
History
First information about brigand groups in the Carpathian region comes from the mid-15th century. The term "opryshok"/"opryshky" itself started to be used in the 16th century and has an unclear origin: some researchers consider it to be derived from the adverb oprich - "separately", compare to oprichnina; alternatively it could be connected to dialectal words oprysok - "piece of rock", oprysklyvyi - "bothering", "uneasy", or even to the Latin noun opressor, which used to mean "destroyer" or "violator".The emergence of opryshky as a social movement was connected with the developments in the 18th-century Poland. The breakdown of central authority during the rule of the Saxon dynasty, led to the rise of powerful magnates, who established full control over the countryside by organizing manorial estates and ruling as local "kinglets" with their own private armies. In the lands of Ruthenia, Belz, western Volhynia and western Podolia the peasants bore the greatest burden of serfdom compared to those living in lands further to the east. The rise of Sarmatism also led to repression against the Orthodox Church, to which the majority of Ukrainian population belonged. This resulted in the emergence of a social protest movement concentrated along Poland's border in the Carpathians, which involved peasants, sheep herders and, occasionally, demobilized soldiers. Forming into small groups, they attacked properties of the landlords, sometimes distributing the spoils among poor peasants.
Based in the border region between the Kingdom of Poland, Hungary and Moldavia, opryshky used the mountainous terrain as an advantage for their activities. During episodes of major upheaval, such as the Cossack–Polish War, opryshky would be joined by numerous peasants, forming insurgent bands. The peak of their activity took place in 1738–1759, when their raids expanded into the regions of Hutsulshchyna, Boykivshchyna, Bukovina and Transcarpathia. During that period legendary outlaw leader Oleksa Dovbush, as well as Vasyl Bayurak and Ivan Boychuk were active in those areas. In the late 18th and early 19th century, increasing taxes and forced conscription led to a new spike in the movement. A notable leader of opryshky in the Hutsul region during that time was Myron Shtoliuk.
The Opryshko movement was eventually defeated by Austrian military detachments sent into the areas of their activity, and became redundant after the abolition of serfdom in the Austrian Empire in the mid-19th century. However, in some locations opryshky remained to be active until the 20th century. In September 1935 a squad of Czechoslovak gendarmerie dispersed a gang of brigands headed Ilko Lypey and Yuriy Klevets, in the valley of Repynka river in Carpathian Ruthenia. Lypey, a fugitive who had been imprisoned for robbing travellers in 1926, was killed in the gunfight or committed suicide, meanwhile his comrade Klevets, a fellow fugitive, disappeared, possibly fleeing to Poland. The defeat of the "last opryshoks" caused a media sensation in Czechoslovak press of the time.