Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA): A fascist Ukrainian military and terrorist organization formed from Bandera's right-wing "revolutionary" faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN, it was known as UNO in Ukrainian). OUN itself was founded in 1929, as a terrorist organization to promote the cause of Ukrainian nationalism by any possible means, including: diversion, sabotage, terrorism, clandestine assassinations (in 1936 it assassinated Poland's Minister of Internal Affairs B. Pieracki), and cooperation with the German secret intelligence (both before and during the German aggressions on Poland and Soviet Union). The overwhelming majority of UPA's members also belonged to OUN, and both of these organizations were very strongly interconnected. UPA's main powerbase lay in the Ukrainian regions that until 1939 were still under Polish rule, with Ukrainian Catholics forming the bulk of the organization's members (a number of pro-Ukrainian Rusins from Trans-Carpathian Rus and eastern Polish Carpathians also joined UPA, in fact they were the formation's only non-Ukrainian members); attempts were made to recruit new members from among the Ukrainians of the Orthodox religious denomination in order to materialize an all-Ukrainian independence movement. Shortly before the outbrake of war in 1939, OUN established the clandestine Ukrainian Military Organization which served as a forerunner of UPA. Members of OUN launched numerous attacks on Polish soldiers and civilians in September of 1939, commiting their first gruesome atrocities in their bloody campaign to eradicate the Slavs from Ukraine.
The abbreviation UPA itself stands for
"Ukrainska Powstancza Armia" (literally meaning: Ukrainian Raising Army, however, usually translated as the Ukrainian Insurgent Army). It was a fiercely pro-German and anti-Communist armed formation of the OUN, whose leader was Stepan Bandera (1908-1959). UPA, as well as OUN, conducted its activities in support of Germany and against Poland and Soviet Union. Its chief aim was the establishment of an "independent Ukraine" under the protege of Nazi Germany. It mainly operated in north-western Ukraine and parts of south-eastern Poland. The first terrorist UPA detachment was formed on 14/10/1942, in the north-western Ukrainian region of Volhynia. The greatest organizational development of UPA (in headquarters, staffs, and detachments) took place in the second half of 1943, when numerous thousands of Ukrainian policemen voluntarily enlisted in its ranks. In September of 1943, the General Headquarters of UPA were founded in the vicinity of Lviv. The General Headquarters of UPA consisted of six sections (organizational-mobilizational, reconnaissance, economic, training, propaganda, and political-educational). R. Szuchewycz (alias "Taras Czuprynka") was nominated as UPA's Commander-in-Chief. Four operational groups were subordinated to UPA's General Headquarters near Lviv, and these were as follows: Operational Group "North" (encompassed north-western Ukrainian regions of Volhynia and Polesie), Operational Group "West" (encompassed north-western Ukrainian region of Galicia, as well as Trans-Carpathian Rus and south-eastern Poland), and still undergoing the development stage (in 1943), Operational Group "South" (encompassed southern Ukraine), and Operational Group "East" (encompassed north-central and eastern Ukraine). Every operational group was subdivided into military districts, which in turn were composed of tactical sectors. By early 1944, both Operational Group "North" and Operational Group "South" contained two military districts, whereas, Operational Group "West" was made up of six military districts (I have no data on the number of such military districts in the Operational Group "East"). Each operational group, military district, and tactical sector had its own commander and headquarters. All military districts also had their own NCO training schools.
The fundamental combat unit of UPA was a
kuren (each contained 400-800 members), which was made up of 3-4
sotnias (companies), each
sotnia contained 3-4
czotas (platoons), each
czota was assembled from 3
roys (each
roy had 10-12 members). Every
roy was usually equipped with one light machine gun, two to three automatic weapons, and at least seven rifles. Although a few small artillery and cavalry units were established, UPA predominantly consisted of second-rate (on German standards) infantry which served "security" (read mass murder) functions for the German administration / occupation apparatus. Those members of the OUN who did not join UPA, served as its auxiliary militia, called upon in times of need or emergency to support regular UPA detachments. UPA unquestionably served the German administration as loyal para-military levies that permanently tied their faith to that of Third Reich. Largely thanks to UPA/OUN, the General Governorship's District of Galicia was made into a Nazi-UPA condominium.
Both UPA and OUN supported and participated in the creation of Ukrainian legions that were organized to fight against Soviet Union. The most famous such formation was the 14-th Waffen-SS Infantry Division "Galizien" ("Halyczyna" in Ukrainian, at the beginning it was known as the Galician Police Division), which contained numerous members of both OUN and UPA, and was co-founded by both organizations. See below for a list of other German-sponsored WWII Ukrainian formations.
During the German occupation of Poland and western Soviet Union, UPA actively collaborated with the Germans, it fought against Polish and Soviet partisans, it launched a programme of extermination of Poles (killing an estimated 70 000 - 110 000 of them in the regions of Galicia, Volhynia, Polesie, and parts of south-eastern Poland). It was also hostile towards many non-Ukrainian Soviet citizens such as Slavs, Jews, and members of other races. Despite its claims, UPA
never fought against the Germans or any other Axis. UPA's imaginery attacks on Germans never took place; after WWII UPA claimed to have conducted anti-German actions which
never happened. On 29/02/1944 members of UPA ambushed and mortally wounded the Commander of the 1-st Ukrainian Front General Nikolay Vatutin (1901-1944), who died of wounds over two months later.
Miscellaneous Axis Military Formations of WWII.
Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)
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
