Derkach joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Union in August 1988, and was the first leader of the Ukrainian Youth Association within Ukraine, founding the group's Ukrainian chapter on 19 August 1989.[1] Prior to and during the 1989–1991 Ukrainian revolution, Derkach organised several events, including a 29 October 1989 celebration of the West Ukrainian People's Republic's anniversary and a 10 December 1988 celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that led to his arrest by Soviet police.[3] Derkach stood in the 1990 Ukrainian Supreme Soviet election as a candidate for the Democratic Bloc in the western Ukrainian city of Sambir. He was elected in the first round of voting on 4 March,[4] with soldiers from the Carpathian Military District playing a significant role in his election (35% of soldiers voted for Derkach).[5]
In the Supreme Soviet (later the Verkhovna Rada), Derkach was a member of the Defence and Security Committee.[6] He was part of the Military Collegium of the People's Movement of Ukraine alongside Viacheslav Chornovil, Mykola Porovskyi, Vitalii Lazorkin and Vilen Martyrosian, which was responsible for creating an independent Armed Forces of Ukraine following the January Events, during which time the Soviet Army invaded Lithuania in an attempt to prevent it from becoming independent.[7]
Derkach also investigated a series of bombings of monuments to Stepan Bandera, Yevhen Konovalets and the Galicia Division of the Schutzstaffel between December 1990 and June 1991. Derkach claimed that they had been orchestrated by the Soviet Alpha Group, which had previously been involved in the January 1991 Soviet invasion of Lithuania. He further revealed that a hand grenade had been thrown into the Ivano-Frankivsk city council building as retaliation for the demolition of the monument to Vladimir Lenin, with the organiser of the attack claiming to be a member of the Russian far-right group Pamyat.[6]
Derkach joined the Christian-Democratic Party of Ukraine in December 1991, serving as chairman of its Kyiv Oblast and youth branches. He joined the Ukrainian Republican Party upon its foundation, serving as a member until 1993. He left the Christian-Democratic Party in March 1995. Derkach was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1994 Ukrainian parliamentary election for Sambir, placing third. After leaving office, he was an adviser to the Verkhovna Rada on administrative reform and integration with the law of the European Union from 1994 to 1997 and from 1997 to 1998, respectively. He currently works as a lawyer for PBN, a strategic communications firm.[1]
