Vasyl Stepanovych Kuk was born in the village of Krasne in Austria-Hungary (now in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine) on 11 January 1913 to a family of railway workers.

[2] Kuk was a gymnasium student in the city of Zolochiv, and he later studied law at the Catholic University of Lublin.

There, Kuk became active in several Ukrainian youth organisations, such as Plast, Sokil [uk] and Prosvita.

[4] After leader Roman Shukhevych's death in 1950, Kuk assumed the role of commander of the UPA and of the OUN in Ukraine.

Kuk stated that although it may be true that in the times of the "personality cult" of Stalin the conditions were not too favorable, but not really as bad, as the nationalists indicate and now under Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev things are truly fine and if you do not believe it then "come and see for yourself."