Ukrainian Insurgent Army. History of its Emergence

To the 80th anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (celebrated on October 14) and the Day of the Defender of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine publishes a number of materials on the history of the UPA, its structure, weapons, tactics, personnel and training, based on archival documents. Special attention is paid to the peculiarities of the activities of the intelligence units of the insurgents during the Second World War and after it — in deep underground.

October 14, 1942 is considered to be the symbolic date of the creation of the UPA. This date was established by the resolution of the Ukrainian Main Liberation Council, which states: “In October 1942, the first armed units appeared in Polissia, which gave rise to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. 1) In order to record this historical moment, October 14, 1942 is determined as the day of creation of UPA. 2) To commemorate this moment, the day of October 14, which coincides with the historical Cossack holiday of the Intercession, is introduced as a holiday – the Day of the UPA”.

The documents in the Branch State Archive of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine specify the time limits of the formation of the UPA. At the same time, they, as well as the materials of researchers of the Ukrainian national liberation movement, mention the Ukrainian Insurgent Army of Ataman Taras Borovets (Bulba), created in March 1942 on the basis of the military formation “Poliska Sich”, which operated in the Polish territories of Rivne and Zhytomyr regions at the beginning of the Second World War. There is also a mention of the formation in January-February 1943 of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army on the basis of boivkas (the smallest armed combat groups of the OUN) and units of the OUN (b). Therefore, the newly established UPA subsequently operated under the auspices of the OUN (b), while Taras Borovets had to rename the units subordinate to him to the Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army (UPRA).

The resolution on the filling the case, which contains various materials about the UPA, is dated October 23, 1943. It reads as follows: “I, senior security officer of the 1st Department of the 4th Directorate of the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR Senior Lieutenant of State Security Doluda, having studied operational materials received by the 4th Directorate of the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR about the counter-revolutionary insurgent activity of armed gangs of Ukrainian nationalists who call themselves the Ukrainian Insurgent Army — UPA, decide: “To initiate a letter case against the counter-revolutionary formation of Ukrainian nationalists, the so-called UPA, having registered it in accounting group 4 of the Directorate of the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR with the color “Ukr. national k-r" (rebells)”.

Soon, all the chiefs of regional offices of the NKGB received an orientation “On the Emergence and Activities of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)”, dated March 23, 1944, and signed by the People's Commissar of State Security of the Ukrainian SSR Serhiy Savchenko. Today, this document, despite the fact that it was drawn up in the bowels of the NKGB and may contain distorted, tendentious information about the Ukrainian liberation movement of that time, is a kind of source for further research into the history of UPA. Below are extracts from this document (with shortenings).

From the Section “Emergence of UPA”

“Despite severe repression by the Germans, the OUN of the Bandera’s wing not just was not liquidated, but by the beginning of 1943, had significantly increased its ranks, having organized its underground cells and combat groups almost everywhere in Ukraine”.

“...In the conditions of the growing hatred of broad strata of the population towards the occupiers, Bandera’s OUN skillfully, using this hatred, led some elements that were socially close to us.

In the future, continuing to play successfully on this hatred, Banderites began to form their armed forces and created the so-called “Ukrainian Insurgent Army”, declaring it “the only sovereign power in the liberated lands of Ukraine”, and Bandera’s OUN , due to the “new” tasks and to distinguish itself from Melnykites, was renamed into the “Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists – Independists - Statists” - OUN(SD), which set its task to fight for the Ukrainian independent unified state – USSD”.

“In detail, the history of the emergence and activity of the UPA, based on information and documentary materials obtained from various sources, looks like this:

On June 30, 1941, Stepan Bandera convened the “Ukrainian National Assembly” in Lviv, which proclaimed the creation of the Ukrainian state and published a special declaration in connection with this.

Bandera appointed his deputy in the OUN, Yaroslav Stetsko, the head of the Ukrainian national “government”.

At the same time, Bandera began the formation of the so-called “Ukrainian National Army”.

However, the Germans offered Bandera to dissolve the formed “government” and cancel the published declaration. Bandera refused to comply with this demand, after which the Germans arrested Bandera, Stetsko and other active members of the OUN and thereby put an end to the existence of the “Ukrainian Government”.

On November 19, 1941, a directive was sent to all the German occupation authorities in Ukraine, which demanded that supporters of the Bandera movement not be admitted to self-government bodies and the police, and on November 25, 1941, the Germans issued an order to kill them.

As a result of the mass repressions that began on the part of the Germans against Banderites, the latter moved to an illegal position and began active work on the creation of underground OUN organizations and armed combat groups – “boivkas”.

In 1942, Banderites did a great job of creating a wide network of underground armed combat groups on the territory of Western Ukraine.

In March 1943, the leadership of Bandera’s OUN, on the bases of those combat groups, began the formation of the so-called “Ukrainian Insurgent Army” (UPA), which was initially headed by a “Yurko” (an OUN pseudonym), and in May 1943 by a Klym Savur in the rank of “Commander-in-Chief of the UPA”...

From the Section “Program Provisions of the UPA”

“On the pages of their illegal publications, including leaflets and appeals, the OUN and UPA spread the “program” provisions and instructions of the UPA, the essence of which is as follows.

The political struggle of the Ukrainian people for the Ukrainian state has entered a new phase. This is due to the growth of the internal forces of the Ukrainian people and the external political situation. The “Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)” is a manifestation of the organizational struggle for the Ukrainian state.

UPA,defending the Ukrainian people from the terror of the occupiers, is creating an armed force that will consolidate the conquests of the Ukrainian national revolution and, embodied in the Ukrainian People's Army, will defend the USSD against external enemies.

UPA is the armed force of the Ukrainian people; to fight in the ranks of UPA is an honorable duty of every citizen of Ukraine.

UPA fights:

For an independent unified Ukrainian state on Ukrainian land.

For a new fair system and order in Ukraine without lords, landlords, capitalists and Bolshevik commissars.

For a new fair international system and order in the world, based on respect for the rights of every people and its independent comprehensive development in its own state forms.

Against the German and Moscow imperialist invaders who seek to enslave and destroy the Ukrainian people.

Against imperialists as the source of wars and enslavement of peoples.

UPA considers the Bolshevik paratroopers to be the vanguard of the Moscow imperialists and destroys them on a par with German robbery gangs.

Today, UPA is not partisanship. It is the germ of the future Ukrainian armed forces, it is the future Ukrainian people's army, which is already being enriched with all types of weapons, trained ordinary soldiers and command personnel.

UPA fights against the imperialists, who enslave one nation by another, and therefore is waging a merciless struggle against both, Hitler's Germany and Bolsheviks’ Moscow. Those two imperialists are fighting among themselves for political and economic ruling Ukraine.

Recognizing the right of every people to have its own national state on its territory, UPA calls on all the enslaved peoples of Europe and Asia to join the struggle against the Moscow and German imperialists”.

From the Section “UPA’s Practical Tasks”

“According to the agent data, testimony of the captured members of UPA and documents, it has been established that UPA currently sets itself and actively implements the following practical tasks:

1. Armed struggle against partisans and the Red Army in case of its advance through the territory of Western Ukraine.

2. Training and leaving in the rear of the Red Army in the territory liberated from the occupiers of armed gangs for sabotage, terrorist and insurgent activities, organization of attacks and destruction of party and Soviet bodies, collective farms, attacks on small units of the Red Army and seizure of its convoys.

3. Training of Ukrainian personnel for infiltration into the ranks of the Red Army, bodies of the NKVD, NKGB, militia and the Soviet party apparatus with the task of terror against the command staff of the Red Army, party and Soviet leaders and employees of the NKVD, NKGB and militia.

4. Preparation and organization of an armed uprising against the Soviet authorities, creation of secret bases of food, fodder, clothing, footwear, weapons and ammunition for this purpose.

5. Disruption of the mobilization of the population to the Red Army through nationalist propaganda and forced removal of all young people to the forests. Disruption of all events that we hold in the liberated regions”.

(Source: BSAof the SZR of Ukraine. – F. 1. – Case 7088. – V. 1. – P. 4–12).