The protagonists of the Eastern Front of World War II were the Soviet Union and Germany, and the two sides fought fiercely and bloodlessly on the front that stretched for thousands of miles. In addition to the two protagonists, there are also many supporting characters active in the rear of the front, such as the guerrillas organized by the Soviet army and the various puppet armies cooperating with the German army, one of which is particularly strange, not only against the German army, but also against the Soviet army, and even the fallen Poland is also the object of its struggle, which is the paramilitary armed Ukrainian resistance army established by the Ukrainian nationalist organization.
Although this unit was poorly equipped and not very strong, it caused a lot of trouble for both the Soviet union and Germany, and their most famous "achievement" was to let the famous Soviet general, the outstanding tank force commander, General Nikolai Vatutin, die.
■ Two leaders of the Ukrainian nationalist group, Mirinik (left) and Banjera (right).
The Ukrainian Nationalist Organization is a right-wing extremist political organization established in Vienna in 1929, its purpose is to seek the independence of Ukraine, initially mainly in Eastern Galicia, Poland, because of the use of radical means of demonstrations, frequent terrorist incidents and was suppressed by the Polish government, later generations often regarded it as a fascist organization.
In 1940, the group split, forming a moderate faction led by Andrei Mirinik and a radical faction led by Stepan Banjera, both of which had ties to Nazi Germany. Before the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the radicals sent infiltration into the former Polish territory occupied by the Soviet Union and plotted an unsuccessful insurrection. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Banjra issued the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine on June 30 in Lviv, where the Germans were besieging, but was immediately arrested by the Germans and placed under house arrest.
■ The flag of the Ukrainian nationalist organization is also the flag of the Ukrainian resistance army.
Compared with the radicals' advances, the moderates' plans were more elaborate and covert, sending about 4,000 members to form three military groups, follow the footsteps of the German army into Ukraine, and establish underground armies everywhere, with the largest northern group with Kiev as the main area of activity, the second largest central group going to Kharkiv, and the smallest southern group based in Odessa. These groups are divided into pieces and operate in small groups of 7 to 10 people.
It is worth mentioning that the actions of the moderates were not notified or authorized by the German side, because Germany, although supporting the nationalist position of the Ukrainians, opposed any form of nationalist activity, so some members were captured and killed by the German or Soviet troops during the infiltration process, but the remaining people successfully arrived at their destination and began to develop resistance groups.
■ A group of members of the Ukrainian rebels, their weapons and costumes varied.
However, the radicals were more proactive in creating armed forces, and in August 1941 proposed that the Germans form a Ukrainian army to assist the Germans in battle, in return for Germany's commitment to support Ukrainian independence after the war, which was naturally rejected by the Germans, and the German authorities ordered it to be liquidated.
At the beginning of 1942, the radicals adjusted their tactics, went underground, tried to avoid conflict with Germany, and made the Soviet Union the main enemy, accelerated the establishment of armed groups, and on October 14, 1942, officially established the Ukrainian Resistance Army, with Banjra as the political leader, and carried out activities throughout The German occupation of Ukraine, its main target was soviet guerrillas, but after February 1943 it also fought against the German army.
■ Ukrainian rebel soldiers in a stronghold in 1944, which can be seen mixed with German and Soviet uniforms, equipment and weapons.
The Ukrainian resistance established a complex chain of command that overlapped with the administrative structures of the Ukrainian nationalist organizations, and at the end of 1943 established a military headquarters with three regional commands, namely the Northern District (Volinia, Kiev), the Western District (Galicia) and the Southern District (Odessa, Zhytomyr and Khmelnytsky), each of which was divided into different military and tactical districts. The largest combat unit of the resistance army is the battalion, with 500 to 700 people, and the smallest combat unit is the squad, with 8 to 10 people, usually operating in companies, and if necessary, 3 to 4 companies can be concentrated to form battalions to launch large-scale attacks.
The Rebels had plans to establish an Eastern Division Command, but they failed to materialize. Most of the members of the resistance came from the Ukrainian auxiliary police formed by Germany in the occupied areas, and according to German intelligence estimates, the resistance army reached 20,000 people in November 1943, about 30,000 in the summer of 1944, and some sources show that at most 200,000 people!
■ Group photo of members of the Ukrainian resistance, using a mixture of German and Soviet weapons.
Like most guerrillas, the Weapons and Equipment of the Ukrainian Resistance Army came mainly from battlefield collection or capture, but also a small number of private purchases, mainly Soviet-made light weapons, and a few German-made weapons, and after reaching a cooperative relationship with the German army in 1944, the German army directly armed the captured Soviet weapons against the rebels.
In addition to light weapons, the Ukrainian rebels were also armed with 50 mm and 82 mm mortars, as well as a small number of 45 mm and 76.2 mm guns, and even tanks were used in some battles. At the end of the war in 1945, the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs reported the seizure of 45 artillery pieces and 423 mortars from the rebels.
■ Rank symbol of the Ukrainian resistance army.
The costumes of members of the Ukrainian resistance were in disarray, ranging from German uniforms to Soviet uniforms, or vassal uniforms, as well as homemade clothing, and the main identification symbol was the hat emblem with the Ukrainian trident pattern, which was also mostly homemade. On January 27, 1944, the Ukrainian resistance began to use a uniform rank logo, and members of all levels wore corresponding collar badges and armbands to distinguish them, but due to its scattered guerrilla nature, the actual use of the logo was limited.
■ General Vatutin, who was killed by an attack by Ukrainian rebels.
Although the Ukrainian rebels emphasized their anti-Nazi Germany stance to the outside world, they colluded with the Germans far more than they confronted during the war, many of whose members were originally German-backed Ukrainian auxiliary police, and some of whom joined the 14th SS "Galician" Division in 1943. Compared with the Germans, the Ukrainian resistance to the Soviet Union and Poland was incompatible, you live and die, and was regarded by the Soviet partisans as the most vicious enemy besides the Germans, especially in the later stages of the war, the Ukrainian resistance directly became an accomplice of the German army, constantly harassing the Soviet army, and accidentally captured a big man. On the night of February 29, 1944, The commander of the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front, General Vatutin, lost contact with the guard unit due to poor visibility during the transfer, encountered the Ukrainian rebels at a fork in the road, was shot in the leg during the exchange of fire, and was subsequently sent to Kiev for treatment.
Due to poor medical conditions on the front line, Vatutin's injuries worsened, he became seriously infected, and even though he had performed amputation, he died on 15 April. In addition, the Ukrainian resistance also adhered to its ultra-nationalist stance, ethnically cleansed Poles in Galicia, and caused multiple massacres that killed 100,000 Poles.
■ Polish people slaughtered by Ukrainian rebels.
Later in World War II, as Soviet forces recaptured all of Ukraine and marched toward Poland, the security forces of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs began to clear the Ukrainian resistance until the end of the war.
The Ukrainian rebels went underground and engaged in guerrilla warfare in Ukraine, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, attacking military and political targets everywhere, ambushing and shooting the Polish Soviet general Carol Severczewski, then Deputy Minister of Defense of Poland, prompting the Soviet, Polish, and Czech sides to launch a joint encirclement and suppression in 1948, destroying the rebel strongholds. The Ukrainian resistance was officially disbanded in 1949, but its remnants remained active until the mid-1950s.
■ Photographs taken by members of the Ukrainian Resistance fighting the Soviets near Rivno in 1947.
For a long time after the war, the Ukrainian resistance was spurned by the world as an accomplice of the Nazis. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine finally gained independence, and pro-Western politicians began to actively move closer to the West after taking power, denying the history of World War II, inciting nationalism and Russian-hate sentiments, especially after the Crimean crisis in 2014, when the Ukrainian resistance army was reborn from the dust of history and re-painted, becoming an important totem for Ukrainian nationalists to show their anti-Russian stance and curry favor with the West.
■ In the face of high anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine, former members of the Ukrainian resistance took part in the march armed with MP40 submachine guns, and they were regarded as "anti-Russian fighters".