Ivan Hrinioch

Ivan Hrinioch (Born Dec 28, 19071 ; also known as Hryniokh, Johann Hrijnioch), a Uniate Catholic priest, was the chaplain for the collaborationist Nachtigall battalion, and in 1946 became a US intelligence asset with 'full operational approval since 1953.'2 His CIA cryptonymes included CAPARISON, CARTEL-1, AECASSOWARY-3, CASSOWARY-3 and QRDYNAMIC-3.2

He was associated with the SSU projects BELLADONNA and LYNX, renamed to TRIDENT, and then in project AERODYNAMIC (formerly CARTEL, ANDROGEN, AECARTHAGE), later renamed to QRDYNAMIC/QRPLUMB.

Hrinioch was President of the Foreign Representation of the Supreme Ukrainian Liberation Council (ZP/UHVR) from at least July 19443 until at least 1973.2

Nazi Collaboration

Hrinioch was a Ukrainian Catholic priest and nationalist, who was in Krakow with Bandera and Lebed in 1940. He served as liaison between Archbishop Andrei Shepstitski of Lwów and Bishop Ivan Buczko, the Uniate Church’s representative at the Vatican. When the Germans invaded East Galicia, Hrinioch also had a relationship with Fritz Arlt, a “Jewish expert” in the SD, who worked under General Governor Hans Frank in 1940 and was charged with contacting Soviet émigrés to serve as German-allied volunteers during the invasion in 1941. Until 1948, all three envoys were members of the OUN/B party and loyal to Bandera."3

President of the Foreign Representation of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council (ZP/UHVR)

"In July 1944, before the Soviets took Lwów, the UHVR sent a delegation of its senior officials to establish contact with the Vatican and Western governments. The delegation was known as the Foreign Representation of the Supreme Ukrainian Liberation Council (ZP/UHVR). It included Father Ivan Hrinioch as president of the ZP/UHVR; Mykola Lebed as its Foreign Minister; and Yuri Lopatinski as the UPA delegate.3

In 1946 Hrinioch became an American Intelligence asset.2

"A feud erupted in 1947 between Bandera and Stetsko on the one hand, and Hrinioch and Lebed on the other. Bandera and Stetsko insisted on an independent Ukraine under a single party led by one man, Bandera. Hrynioch and Lebed declared that the people in the homeland, not Bandera, created the UHVR, and that they would never accept Bandera as dictator. At an August 1948 Congress of the OUN Foreign Section, Bandera expelled the Hrinioch-Lebed group from the party and ordered his own followers in their organization to resign. Bandera still controlled 80 percent of the party and claimed exclusive authority to direct the Ukrainian national movement at home and in the emigration. He also continued terror tactics against anti-Banderist Ukrainian leaders in Western Europe and maneuvered for control of Ukrainian émigré organizations. U.S. intelligence officials estimated that up to 80 percent of all Ukrainian DPs from Eastern Galicia were loyal to Bandera. But Lebed, Hrinioch, and Lopatinky remained the official UHVR representation abroad."4

"Hrinioch (his name is spelled numerous ways) was the most important Ukrainian contact with the Americans during this time period. [...] While one American ease officer noted that "subject was in contact with the GIS (German Intelligence Service) during the early stages of the German campaign in Galicia," American intelligence officers found Hrinioch to be "very well informed and highly intelligent" as well as "incorruptibly honest." Hrinioch, in fact, served as the chaplain of the infamous Ukrainian Nachtigall Legion of Ukrainian Nationalists, which collaborated with the Nazis and played a major role in the 1941 proclamation of Ukrainian statehood. Hrinioch had the operational cryptonym of CAPARISON. Hrinioch served after the war in his clerical role and by 1982 he had been elevated to the rank of Patriarchal Archimandrite."5

With the release by the Soviets of Metropolitan Joseph Slipyj in 1963 a Ukrainian Catholic University was established in Rome where he became professor. He was one of the founders of the Patriarchal movement for the Ukrainian-Catholic Church. (Citations needed)

Declassified CIA file from April 13, 1972

"Reverend Ivan Hryniokh, president of ZP/UHVR, lives in Munich but is very often in Rome, where he is on the staff of the Ukrainian Uniate Cardinal (in exile) Josyf Slipiy. Hryniokh maintains active contact with various sources in the clerical field, but does so with great caution because Cardinal Slipiy strongly disapproves of any "political" activity on his part. Although his affiliation with Prolog and its activities is never publicized, he provides information of great benefit to Prolog through his Vatican connections, as well as his other clerical contacts, and receives a modest stipend from the Project for his efforts, about $4,000 annually plus travel and other expenses, not to exceed $6,000 total."6

Declassified Files

Declassified CIA files mentioning Ivan Hrinioch

Bibliography

Breitman, Richard and Goda, Norman J.W. "Hitler's Shadow: Nazi War Criminals, U.S. Intelligence, and the Cold War." National Archives. https://iwpchi.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/hitlers-shadow.pdf.
Ruffner, Kevin C. "Cold War Allies: The Origins of CIA s Relationship with Ukrainian Nationalists (s)." In: Fifty Years of the CIA. Central Intelligence Agency, 1998. https://www.academia.edu/33294203/Cold_War_Allies_The_Origins_of_CIAs_Relationship_with_Ukrainian_Nationalists_s
Galiv, Mykola. "Ivan Hrynʹokh: pastor and politician." Patriyarkhat Magazine No. 6 (403), November - December 2007. Archived version of March 4, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120304014715/http://www.patriyarkhat.org.ua/ukr/archive/article;426;403/. (Ukrainian)