Pavlo Meshyk

Pavlo Meshyk (Ukrainian: Павло Якович Мешик; Russian: Павел Яковлевич Мешик, Pavel Meshyk; 1910 – 23 December 1953) was a Ukrainian KGB operative.

Pavlo Meshyk
Minister of Interior of UkrSSR
In office 16 March 1953 – 30 June 1953
Preceded by	Timofei Strokach
Succeeded by	Timofei Strokach
People's Commissar of State Security of UkrSSR
In office 26 February 1941[1] – 31 July 1941
Preceded by	Chief of Main Directorate of State Security of UkrSSR
Succeeded by	Chief of Main Directorate of State Security of UkrSSR
Personal details
Born	1910 (1910) Konotop, Konotopsky Uyezd, Chernigov Governorate
Died	23 December 1953 (1953-12-24) (aged 43) Moscow, Russian SFSR
Nationality	Ukrainian
Political party	Communist Party of Ukraine
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Branch/service	NKVD
Rank	Lieutenant General

Meshyk was born in a family of clerks in Konotop. After graduating Konotop school, in 1925–1930 he worked as a repairman at Konotop Mechanical Factory. At the factory, Meshyk graduated the school of FZU and in 1930 in Kamianets-Podilskyi he finished university preparatory courses. In October 1931 Meshyk with a "Komsomol voyage ticket"[1] enrolled into the Electrical Power Institute in Samara, but already in March 1932 on the party's selection[1] he was directed to work at OGPU.

After finishing the OGPU College (1932–1933), Meshyk worked in the central office of OGPU–NKVD in Moscow[1] in economic and counterintelligence departments (assistant commissioner of Division 1 of the GUGB (OGPU) Economic Department (EKO), 1933–1935; operational commissioner of Division 2 of the GUGB EKO, later Division 14 (Vneshtorg, trade offices) of the GUGB Department 3 (counterintelligence), 1935–1937).

List of leadership position Meshyk held afterwards:

• 1937–1938 assistant chief of Division 14 of the GUGB Department 3
• 1939 assistant chief of the NKVD Investigational Section
• 1939–1940 chief of the NKVD Main Economic Directorate (GEU) Investigational Section
• 1940–1941 chief of the NKVD GEU Department 1
• 1941 People's Commissar of State Security of the UkrSSR
• 1941–1943 chief of the NKVD Economic Directorate (EKU)
  • 1941 chief of the NKVD Special Department 7 (production of weaponry)
  • 1942 chief of the NKVD EKU Department 1 (aviation)
• 1943–1945 assistant chief of the NKO Main Directorate of Counterintelligence (GUKR) SMERSH[1]
• 1945 NKVD commissioner of the First Ukrainian Front
• 1945 advisor to Ministry of General Administration at the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland (including the Provisional Government of National Unity)

Upon his return from Poland, Meshyk worked for the Soviet atomic bomb project:[1]

• 1945–1953 assistant chief of the First Main Directorate (Sovnarkom – Sovmin of USSR)
• 1953 Minister of Internal Affairs of the UkrSSR (on initiative of Lavrentiy Beria)[1]

On 30 June 1953 Meshyk was arrested in Kiev.[1] On 23 December 1953 he was sentenced by Special court presence (Russian: Специальное судебное присутствие, Spetsialnoye sudebnoye prisutstvie) of the Supreme Court of USSR to "VMN" (i.e. capital punishment) on the "case of Beria gang". Meshyk was executed by shooting. He was stripped of all awards and titles.[1] Meshyk was partially rehabilitated when on 29 May 2000 the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation requalified corpus delicti (body of the crime) to "Excess of power and abuse of office that led to severe consequences", execution by shooting changed to 25 years of imprisonment without confiscation of personal property.