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An interesting excert from the above link; "Shukhevych saw the UPA, starved of weapons and facing overwhelming odds, was doomed and ordered thousands of his fighters to seek sanctuary in the West. That led to an epic series of battles across central Europe as UPA groups fought against tens of thousands of NKVD troops sent to trap them.
The UPA lost many of their fighters but eluded and destroyed many more of their enemies and made it through to German areas occupied by Britain and the US. Some of those who survived settled in Britain while most made their way to America and Canada."
What to make of the UPA? Well their history was written by their survivors or by their enemies so it is difficult to say. It would be interesting to hear from the Shukhevych survivors.
http://www.infoukes.com/upa/
http://www.upa.com.ua/
JeffinMNUSA
Some UPA Music; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ_NiFbDc2M

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There is a lot of controversy about the UPA; Harvest of Despair: Life and Death ... - Google Book Search

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http://www.ww2f.com/russia-war/22403...-army-upa.html

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For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I might be mistaken, but was it not Zhukov who was put in charge of cleaning them up?

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

SLonisp;
No-it was the NKVD Army; Soviet Secret Army - e-book about NKVD Army in WW2
Who the exact commander was I cannot find out but these forces were tasked with destroying nationalist insurgencies-as well as conventional frontline combat- and under direct control of STAVKA. SOrt of like what the SS was in Germany.
JeffinMNUSA

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Probably several commanders of NKVD rifle forces had a role in this. Off-hand I seem to recall Glantz's work mentioning several NKVD rifle divisions working in the trail of the Ukrainian fronts and doubtlessly they would have been engaged in operations against the UPA.

Cheers

BW

B;
NKVD was also tasked with rear area security-a task they seem to have done exceptionally well at as the Germans were seldom able to divine Soviet intentions. In the "Enemy At the Gates" movie they have thuggish looking NKVD troops mowing down green Soviet frontline soldiers en masse. This is a misrepresentation-NKVD did employ summary execution but usually on a much more selective basis.
JeffinMNUSA

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Another unusual aspect of NKVD troops was that they were the primary manpower contribution that made up the 70th Army (at least initially, I'm not sure how much that ratio held as the 70th took losses in combat).

Glantz also lists many NKVD regiments that were dedicated to the security of lines of communications (railways etc.) as well as the units that provided the guards for the Gulags.

Cheers

BW

Yes I am aware of NKVD's role...... However, it was Zhukov who was placed in charge of the Odessa Military District on Stalin's behalf. He was the highest ranking officer in Ukraine and was in charge of the clean up from 46' to 48'. Which he did quite well. He was the commander to which all others answered to and perhaps the very same commander for whom you were looking for but so far could not find.

Stalin was threatened by Zhukov's popularity as a result relocated him to Odessa. Only after Stalin's death did Zhukov return to Moscow.

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

From Litopys UPA .

Litopys UPA is a series of books, produced with the aim of publishing source documents and materials relating to the history of the UPA

"The re conquest of Ukraine in 1944 brought with it new problems for the Soviets but also the new opportunities. Militarily they were now in a preponderant situation and did not lose much time in trying to exploit this fact in their struggle with the underground.
The masses of the Red Army that flooded western Ukrainian lands in the wake of the moving front lines were thrown immediately into battle against the Ukrainian underground, and in particular against the UPA. 6 It became apparent almost from the beginning that the Red Army soldiers were not in the mood to fight their countrymen. Moreover having anticipated such a turn of events the underground leadership prepared thousands of propaganda leaflets aimed at the soldiers and began to distribute them widely among the Soviet forces with a great deal of success. As a result the instances of the Red Army soldiers refusing to comb the forests multiplied. When large sweeps were attempted and the solders moved in under orders they behaved in the most undisciplined fashion, making noises, and discharging their firearms. And they also spread the news among the population and in this fashion warning the underground about the impending actions. The results were unsatisfactory and the situation was deemed politically dangerous. As a result the Red Army was withdrawn form direct combat operations and was replaced by the special NKVD forces. 7
The main Soviet tactic at that time was to garrison the villages with the Red Army and to use the NKVD troops to search the forests. This approach, however, was also of limited utility because at least in the beginning, the Soviet intelligence on the underground was still quite underdeveloped and faulty and secondly the people in general were not willing to identify with or to support Soviet authorities. Nevertheless the Soviet measures did require changes in the tactics of the underground. Starting with the fall of 1944 the UPA began to operate in smaller units of about 100-150 men and later on, with the exemption of Poland, even in smaller detachments. 8
Throughout the winter of 1944/45 the Soviet military tactics did not change appreciably. Their approach continued to emphasize the saturation of the terrain with the armed forces and using the NKVD special troops (and the so called spetsgrupy) for the search and destroy operations. 9
The real blockade of the area of Western Ukraine began only after the war in Europe was over, in July 1945 to be precise, 10 although in some regions (for example in Sambir district) the action began already in March 1945. 11





These tactics were in complete harmony with the secret instructions of the party. In one such report captured by the underground I. I. Profatilov, Volyn Obkom First Secretary, lists various political, military and intelligence measures to be taken in the fight against the underground. 12 In it a great stress in laid not only on the use of the NKVD/NKGB troops and the "operativniki" and the militia, but also on the need to organize the so called village self-defense Units, and the Search and Destroy units (Istrebitelnye Bataliony-"Strybki"). 13 Beginning with 1945 the underground was facing considerable forces arrayed against it:

1. Regular army which garrisoned the villages.
2. NKVD internal troops.
3. NKVD spetsgroups.
4. NKGB operatives.
5. GRU operatives.
6. SMERSH agents.
7. Militia.
8. Various guards units (railroad, bridges, factories).
9. Units of Istrebitelnye Bataliony, ("Strybki").
10. Village self-defense units.

In the period of 1946-1950 Soviet tactics changed only to the extent that the regular Soviet forces were no longer deployed against the underground. The burden of pacification were now entirely on the shoulders of the MGB/NVD troops and various support units and the paramilitary organizations. With the improved intelligence capabilities and greater political control the Soviets began to deploy smaller units in the search and destroy operations of specific targets while continuing to garrison villages with local paramilitary detachments and supplemented with the MVD troops. 14"


Historical academic references are always interesting, and important in a forum like this one in ensuring one is (hopefully) learning new factual information. Equally compelling about such forums is the chance to glimpse something about the subject that gives a more personal insight into the events discussed. In that vein-

Female soldiers of UPA-

upa female soldiers.jpg

One of those female soldiers of UPA (Not in the picture). Captured after the war. Sentenced to 20 years, 10 in Stalin's Gulag, 10 more in internal exile. Her brother had the same fate, but he did not survive the Gulag. My Aunt, she survives, and lives in Western Ukraine. I have known tough men, but I will put this womans strength and character up against any combatent in any military unit. Picture taken in 1956, after release from the camp, but while still not allowed to return home.

Family 1-5 Miroshka.jpg

14th;
Fascinating. Thank you. Are there any English translations on this nearly unknown -in the West anyhow-subject?
JeffinMNUSPS. A read on the subject of the Ukrainian guerillas and the creation of the US Special Forces; http://books.google.com/books?id=U7G...esult&resnum=1

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