Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army
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Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army | |
---|---|
Українська народно-революційна армія | |
Leaders | Taras Bulba-Borovets |
Dates of operation | July 1941 – 5 October 1943 |
Active regions | Polesia |
Ideology | Ukrainian nationalism |
Allies | |
Opponents | |
Battles and wars | World War II |
Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army (
To distinguish itself from Stepan Bandera's Ukrainian Insurgent Army, it was renamed the Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army on 20 July 1943. Among the local population and Soviet partisans, members of Bulba's formation were always known as bulbovtsy (Russian) / bulbivtsi or bulbashi (Ukrainian).
UPA and Polissian Sich
By the end of June 1941
At the beginning of August, Borovets made an attempts to obtain military support from the two rival factions of the
Rule in Olevsk
By August 1941,
Ukrainian Insurgent Army
In December 1941, Bulba removed "The Polissian Sich" from his formation name (numbering by this time only 300 persons), calling his formation the "Ukrainian Insurgent Army". In February 1942, he made an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate with the Germans for the renewal of his formation. The winter of 1941/42 was spent by Taras Bulba-Borovets at the General Government, while his formation was inactive. In March 1942, the Germans activated their program of the brutal exploitation of Ukraine. As a reaction to such measures, military units controlled by Borovets rapidly expanded with volunteers. These included Soviet POWs, local peasants, different type of nationalists from the OUN which had not adopted official line. At this time, Borovets' force became an anti-German force; its activities were limited to actions that interfered with the economical exploitation of selective regions by local German administrations. In general, its activities were limited to passive self-defense of several rural areas and attacks on German food warehouses. On 19 August 1942, Bulba's detachments at Shepetivka captured 4 railway coaches with military equipment. Throughout the summer and autumn Taras Bulba-Borovets tried to find a compromise with German administration and even Nazi security police and SIPO representatives met several time with Borovets' UPA to negotiate future cooperation; such meetings did not have any known results. During the autumn and winter of 1942, Borovets also conducted negotiations with Soviet partisans and reached tricky "non-aggression" agreement, which lasted until February 1943.
Borovets' UPA refused to conduct military operations against Poles.[3] Borovets tried to negotiate with Polish leaders, but did not succeed - the Poles agreed to recognize an independent Ukraine only within the borders of 1939, and for Western Ukraine they promised only autonomy. In the spring of 1943 skirmishes between Ukrainians and Poles began, and often the murders were the results of conflicts between the neighbors. Borovets was unable to stop interethnic conflict and a third front, the Polish one, was opened for the UPA.[4]
By the end of February 1943, the Bandera wing of the
Thus, from May 1943 two Ukrainian nationalistic forces shared a common name, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrayins'ka Povstans'ka Armiya," or "UPA"), without merging into one army.[1]
Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army
To separate his own military formations from such actions on the 20th (or 27th) of July 1943 Bulba issued an order renaming his own UPA into the Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army (the name which OUN-B had adopted in 1941 for future Ukrainian army in Bandera's Ukraine).
At the end of June 1943 the OUN-B issued an order according to which all Ukrainian nationalistic formation must follow the command of the OUN-B. That order lead to military actions of UPA/OUN-B against UPRA. In August, many of Bulba's units were absorbed, disarmed or disbanded, and many commanders were killed by UPA Security Service – SB.
On 18 August 1943, Borovets and the UPRA headquarters was surrounded and ambushed by several UPA battalions. Some of UPRA command were captured, some killed – including Borovet's wife. Borovets and a few of his staff escaped.
On 5 October 1943, Borovets issued an order which claimed "new tactics of UPRA warfare" and a move deep underground; in reality, this was the actual disbandment of Borovets' peasants army. The steady loss of men to the rival UPA and the decline in peasant support prompted Borovets to rename his force the Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army, although some of UPRA detachments were active even later. In December 1943, they captured and released a senior OUN-B officer. Later, some Soviet sources reported about clashes with UPRA units. In autumn 1944 Soviet authorities reported that an UPRA unit prevented wood-cutting activities in one
2019 official veteran status
In late March 2019, former members of Polissian Sich and the Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army were officially granted the status of veterans.
References
- ^ a b Institute of Ukrainian History, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army Chapter 3 pp.104-154 "Організація українських націоналістів і Українська повстанська армія" [Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army] (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on December 10, 2007. Retrieved December 21, 2007.
- ^ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Washington, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945. pp. 1553-1555. Bloomington, Indiana Univ. Press, 2012.
- ^ William Jay Risch. The Ukrainian West: Culture and the fate of Empire in Soviet Lviv. Cambridge University Press. 2011. p. 35.
- ^ Дзьобак 2002, p. 130-134.
- ^ Institute of Ukrainian History, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army Chapter 3 pp.104-154 "Організація українських націоналістів і Українська повстанська армія". Archived from the original on 2007-12-10. Retrieved 2007-12-21.> [dead link]
- ^ a b c Former WWII nationalist guerrillas granted veteran status in Ukraine, Kyiv Post (26 March 2019)
Law recognizing Ukrainian Insurgent Army fighters as veterans enforced, 112 Ukraine (26 March 2019)
Sources
- http://history.org.ua/oun_upa/upa/ Archived 2007-12-10 at the Wayback Machine Організація українських націоналістів і Українська повстанська армія Chapter 3 p. 104-154
Borovets', T. Armiia bez derzhavy: slava i trahediia ukraïns'koho povstans'koho rukhu (Winnipeg 1981)
- Son of Polissia
- Army without country
- Taras Borovetz History of the UIA
- Taras Borovetz - Our opinion of Russia and General Vlasov
- Володимир Дзьобак. Тарас Боровець і “Поліська Січ”, "З архівів ВУЧК-ГПУ-НКВД-КГБ", No.1/2(2/3), 1995. LCC JN6635.A55 I679