In 1944 he had to flee from Lviv. He spent time in refugee camps and became involved in the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences. Around the same time he founded the Order of the Knights of the Solar God, a religious-political organization active in the opposition to the Soviet invasion. Shaian worked to affiliate his group with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. One of Shaian's initiates in this organization was Lev Sylenko, who eventually also became a major figure in Slavic Native Faith in Ukraine.