Born in 1918 to a poor Ukrainian peasant family in the village of Ogievka, located in the Zhitomir region of Ukraine,[1] Fedorchuk started working at a local newspaper at the age of 16.

At the beginning of his career as a state security officer, Fedorchuk was assigned to the Mongolia, where he fought in the victorious Battle of Khalkhin Gol against the Japanese Army.

The Ukrainian human rights activist Viacheslav Chornovil was twice arrested and sentenced to long terms in prison during Fedorchuk's tenure.

[5] He then became the Soviet Interior Minister in December 1982, replacing Brezhnev's man Nikolai Shchelokov, who had been dismissed on corruption charges as part of Andropov's purge of his predecessor's associates.

[6][7] His term ended in January 1986 (Mikhail Gorbachev had him replaced due to his opposition to the policies of the new Soviet leadership) and he was succeeded by Alexander V.