Ukrainian Insurgent Army

The Ukrainian Insurgent Army was a <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_nationalist/89Xcnhkc">Ukrainian nationalist</a> <a href="/facts/Partisans_(military)/Nxwjb1VS">partisan</a> formation founded by the <a href="/facts/Organisation_of_Ukrainian_Nationalists/zUpGFfSF">Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists</a> (OUN) on 14 October 1942. The UPA launched <a href="/facts/Guerrilla/IMWNg4bI">guerrilla</a> warfare against <a href="/facts/Nazi_Germany/8kRbqRpo">Nazi Germany</a>, the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a>, and both the <a href="/facts/Polish_Underground_State/h1hTB74t">Polish Underground State</a> and <a href="/facts/People%2527s_Army_(Poland)/fLmtfEa1">Polish Communists</a>. The UPA carried out <a href="/facts/Massacres_of_Poles_in_Volhynia_and_Eastern_Galicia/48yHw9nS">massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia</a>, which are recognized by <a href="/facts/Poland/eXJ7fd0D">Poland</a> as a <a href="/facts/Genocide/IjkNvg7y">genocide</a>. 
The goal of the OUN was to establish an independent Ukrainian state. This goal, according to the OUN founding declaration, "was to be achieved by a national revolution led by a dictatorship" that would drive out occupying powers and then establish a "government representing all regions and social groups"; OUN accepted violence as a political tool against enemies of their cause. In order to achieve this goal, a number of partisan units were formed, merged into a single structure in the form of the UPA, which was created on 14 October 1942. From February 1943, the organization fought against the Germans in <a href="/facts/Volhynia/F4T8q4aj">Volhynia</a> and <a href="/facts/Polesia/NIdoB5Sb">Polesia</a>. At the same time, its forces fought against the <a href="/facts/Polish_Home_Army/NoT8tGWo">Polish resistance</a>, during which the UPA carried out <a href="/facts/Massacres_of_Poles_in_Volhynia_and_Eastern_Galicia/48yHw9nS">massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia</a>, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 60,000 to 120,000 Polish civilians. In 1944, as the German army was retreating, the UPA started to attack its rear and seize the equipment. At the end of July 1944, the UPA <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_collaboration_with_Nazi_Germany/IaC6KISn">aligned itself with Nazi Germany</a>, ceasing its attacks on Wehrmacht positions and attacking the Soviets in exchange for military aid. Soviet <a href="/facts/NKVD/IA8Nwh1T">NKVD</a> units fought against the UPA, which led armed resistance against Soviets until 1949. On the territory of <a href="/facts/Communist_Poland/hypM0C8R">Communist Poland</a>, the UPA tried to prevent the <a href="/facts/Population_exchange_between_Poland_and_Soviet_Ukraine/BTkCCmF2">forced deportation of Ukrainians</a> from western Galicia to the Soviet Union until 1947.
The UPA was a decentralized movement widespread throughout Ukraine, divided into three operational regions; each region followed a somewhat different agenda, given the circumstances of a constantly moving front line and a double threat from Soviet and Nazi opponents. Not all UPA soldiers were members of the OUN or shared OUN's ideology.
The UPA was formally disbanded in early September 1949, but some of its units continued operations until late 1956. Officially, the UPA's last military engagement occurred in October 1956, when remnants of the group fought on the Hungarian border region in support of <a href="/facts/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956/Dtv12syC">that country's revolution</a>. In March 2019, surviving UPA members were officially granted the status of veterans by the <a href="/facts/Government_of_Ukraine/JSqh949c">government of Ukraine</a>.

Ukrainian Insurgent Army open-in-new

Ukrainian Insurgent Army