The historians-Banderovites forge a role against gangsters from OUN-UPA

One of the postulates of “the newest Ukrainian history” became the statement that ostensibly all atrocities against the peace population in the Western Ukraine in 1944-1953 were made not by the fighters of OUN-UPA, but undercover special detachments of People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD). There is even a corresponding conclusion of “Governmental commission on studying of activity of OUN-UPA”, the books are published by hundred-thousandth circulation defending similar “version” of events, the numerous articles are published. But at the elementary analysis it appears that this information “billow” is the roughest falsification, the populist lie based on distortion of contemporary records and primitive forgery.

The objective historical researches suggest otherwise – first of all, the fighters of OUN-UPA widely used the tactics of “atrocities with disguise” and now their nice followers accuse of those similar methods with skill who actually struggled with Bandera evil spirits in Ukraine. The Doctor of History, professor Anatoly Tchaikovsky, the author of the hundreds of scientific works devoted to the world history and history of Ukraine, including the Great Patriotic War and little-known aspects of activity of OUN-UPA tells about these facts to an Internet portal “The world and we”.

- What do you think of the attempts to shift the responsibility for terror which was carried out by the fighters of OUN-UPA, onto the special forces of NKVD which ostensibly disguised themselves as Banderovites and have committed these crimes?

It is the full absurdity, falsification and attempts to shift the charge as they say, from a sick head on the healthy. The Goebbels trick is used at the same time: if to say lies often, they begin to trust and it will sound as the true. Therefore not casually the attempts to rehabilitate OUN-UPA are spent regularly, with persistence of the doomed.

I will remind that represented UPA in the end of 1944, directly ahead of Ukraine liberation of the fascist aggressors. Leaving its territory under the blows of the Red Army, the Nazi Wehrmacht hasn't forgotten the faithful servants. About 700 mortars, 5 thousand heavy machineguns, 100 thousand manual grenades, 30 thousand mines and shells, huge number of shooting arms, about 12 million cartridges, hundred radio stations and other military property and equipment has been given to UPA.

According to the most conservative calculation, about 3 divisions of Wehrmacht could be armed with that weapon. It is known, where this weapon has been directed after the liberation of the territory of Ukraine: UPA has started up the active fighting against the Red Army, territorial bodies of People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, the Soviet party active and simple inhabitants who supported the Soviet power. The fighting was conducted by them with unusual cruelty.

I will give an example: in the spring of 1944, the battles between the Soviet armies and gangs of UPA lasted for seven days in Kremenetsky woods (Rivne Oblast). There were 26 fighting conflicts, each of which lasted till some hours. The losses of both parties were more than considerable. It was possible to find out and grasp about 1 200 various secret warehouses, the plane, armoured cars, 35 guns, almost 3 thousand mortars and machineguns, more than 20 thousand units of shooting arms and other.



At the same time, the firmness and “svidomist” of the UPA fighters became one of myths. After the Soviet government has addressed with an appeal to stop the struggle, only for three years (1944-1947) the total number of those who has voluntary refused from the so-called national-liberation struggle, has made about 77 thousand persons. In 1944-1945 the internal troops, departments of counter-intelligence SMERSH, frontier troops have made the powerful blows to the Ukrainian nationalists, in particular UPA. On January 26, 1945, the commander of UPA formation “North” Yury Stelmashchuk known under a pseudonym “Rudy” had been grasped by the operatively-army group in Kamen-Kashirsky region of the Volyn Oblast. Just he has informed that UPA has lost to 60 % of staff and to 50 % of arms by this time. On the one hand, it says about cruelty of resistance of the Soviet power and to its armed forces, from another that UPA had serious, irreparable losses.

In this situation the Central wire of OUN has held the meeting around a place of Berezhany of the Ternopil Oblast. The main functionaries have gathered there: the UPA commanfer Roman Shukhevich, the chief of the main army staff Gritsay, the chief of bloody security service OUN Arsenich, the organizational reviewer of the Central wire Vasily Kuk and many others. The question on change of strategy and tactics of conducting the further resistance to “sovets” was considered at the meeting. They have agreed about transition from actions by large forces (“kurens” and “sotnias”) to actions by small divisions of level “chot” and “roy” – a platoon and branch. The terror tactics has been put in a basis and the most cruel terror.

Some figures: only in 1944 - the first half of 1945 year, i.e. in the conditions of proceeding war, the OUN-men have made 5 110 acts of terrorism and other armed attacks in territory of the western areas of Ukraine. Their victims became more than 12 thousand persons and over half of them are the civilians. They cut out the stars on bodies of people, ripped up the stomachs, cut off genitals, burned down on fires, hung up, made many other atrocities.

So, with the participation and with support of the Nazis, OUN and UPA conducted “national liberation war” against own people and in the name of which their radical nationalist followers are cried today. The blood, grief and tears of thousand not guilty people are behind each of their victims. What is only the slaughter of the Poles in Volhynia! I will not be surprised, if I hear that the last was done by NKVD.

Later the new tactics has been developed which consisted of three new tactical schemes: “Dazhdbog”, “Oleg” and “Orlik”. We will stop more in detail on the first – first of all it provided the preservation of OUN-UPA shots by legalization of members of an underground in governing bodies, up to penetration into local party, Soviet bodies including the body of People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs. It is not excluded that there were “Soviet” writers, poets, party and state functionaries (“agents of influence”) among them who have appeared needed in new conditions in the end of ХХ century.

If to consider the charges that ostensibly the groups of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs which has been disguised under “insurgents”, are responsible for all criminal actions made in the western areas, so it is necessary to underline: just nationalists used this tactics firstly. And it was not new for them. They used the similar in admissible scales when the Ukrainian territories were in structure of Poland, i.e. till 1939 year.

In 1944 and later it has been decided to make active as much as possible the functioning of own reconnaissance and subversive network with the use of various groups, including disguised in the Soviet military form, the form of employees of People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, militia etc. For example, one of “caches” has been found out in the Lvov region where there were some tens of officer certificates of military men and employees of People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, Red Army books, party and Komsomol tickets, awards, medals, complete sets of uniform. Their owners became the victims of bloody OUN Security Service. Such examples are not individual. From the end of 1944, OUN has started to use actively the reception of disguise of the fighters, first of all from Security Service structure in the form of fighters of the Soviet army, state security agencies and internal affairs. Then the information about these groups has started to appear. Having operating cruelly and meanly, they tried to embitter the population against the Soviet power as much as possible. So, the assistant to the people's commissar for internal affairs of Ukraine Dyatlov wrote in the report addressed to Khrushchev: «On February 5, 1946, at 1-00 p.m, the gang 50 persons in number dressed in the form of military men of the Red Army, one with epaulets of the captain, one – the senior lieutenant, the others with epaulets of private soldiers, field epaulets, armed basically with automatic machines and pistols, has come into village Slobodka- Rykhtetskaya, the Kamenets-Podolsk region, that is 13 km south-west of Kamenets-Podolsk.

The gangsters have destroyed the lists of voters, torn and scattered the documents of the Soviet of the settlement and collective farm, having scattered the OUN leaflets, have left in a direction of village Rykhta of the same region that is 10 km south-west of Kamenets-Podolsk.

The gangsters have destroyed the lists of voters, torn the documents in the Soviet of the settlement, have broken the telephone equipment in post office in village Rykhta, then have left in a direction of Kudrintsy and have disappeared behind the river Sbruch in territory of Melnitsa-Podolsk region. They have scattered the OUN leaflets also in Rykhta. The gangsters have disarmed 4 fighters of formation group in the Soviet of the settlement who bore village protection.”

He has informed in other document to the chiefs of the regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: “The messages arriving in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR testify that some bandit displays are made by the criminals dressed in the form of military men of the Soviet Army.
Having specifying the circumstances of fulfillment of such bandit displays, it is necessary to establish the military ranks and in what army form the criminals are dressed according to epaulets, buttonholes, to peak-caps and other signs.

Necessarily specify this data in the messages sent by you to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR”.
If to speak about counteraction to intrigues of OUN, first of all UPA, so the mass operatively-army operations didn't give that effect any more during this period which was in fighting collisions with its large forces. The corresponding plan of action has been prepared, which provided the various aspects of counteraction: political, economic and military tactical, since February 1945, after situation discussion on struggle against nationalists on the Political bureau of the Central Committee of Communist Party of Ukraine.

Particularly, in order to make the fighting operations most productive, the indispensable condition was required, namely secret-service support. It was not effective to take the agents from among agricultural population. At the best it could give the information appearence of fighters- nationalists. There was a necessity to receive the information actually from their environment. The state security agencies began to use a part of these people in conditions when a significant amount of the surrendered nationalists was available. First of all among the heads and command structure, who had certain political and subversive experience. 156 groups, 2 thousand persons in number have been organized by the Soviet party. They, except for separate groups, didn't consist completely of representatives of the former nationalist underground. As a rule, the kernel of groups was made by employees of People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (the Ministry of Internal Affairs) led by the skilled operative worker and 3-4 persons participated from the former nationalists. They were successfully enough.

- There is a charge that these task forces ostensibly were engaged in terror against the peaceful population to inspire the hatred against OUN men. How much such charges don't correspond to the reality?

It is necessary to recognize for the sake of historical truth: there were the cases when the local population suffered from the actions of task forces. But it is necessary to tell another - such phenomena had no mass character and the main thing was that not only rigid disciplinary actions, but also criminal prosecution applied to those, who supposed something similar. About 100 employees involved in such events, have been prosecuted by military tribunals. The documents in archives with the sentences of military tribunal have remained, they are accessible, but “national patriots” pass over in silence or take only the facts of “cruelty of People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs”, forgetting to tell what has followed them. The charges of nationalists about the existence of the purposeful program of terror against the peaceful population are rough lie and falsification.



- Thus, the charges which are taken out against People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, actually apply to OUN-UPA firstly? Did they disguise in the Soviet form, commit crimes and, thus, discredit the Soviet power?

It is really so and just nationalists began to do that. The creation of task forces from the Soviet party has been caused by change of their tactics, transition to actions by small divisions and the main thing was mass terror not only against the representatives of the Soviet power, but also the civilians whose fault consisted in probably loyal relation to it and not to make acts of terrorism under the pretext of nationalists against the local population. OUN men tried to hire the supporters and not only to hire, but also, applying the tactics of “Dazhdbog”, aspired to introduce their persons by legalization among structure of destructive battalions. Unfortunately, there is no still a serious scientific work which would open the OUN activity from the point of view of the organization it of subversive and reconnaissance work in a context of a considered problem. When it will appear, many questions and the conjectures existing today would disappear.

The same Vasily Kuk has told about about many atrocities and crimes of OUN-UPA in the Soviet period, though has sharply changed the point of view in the last years of life for the known reasons. He can be understood. Those historians aren't understandable, who recently sang of a Communist Party role and now try to discredit our historical past in every way.

- Do you agree that the whole propaganda company in the information field of Ukraine has been developed on discredit of a role of the Soviet power in struggle with OUN-UPA which has been deduced in a rank of the state historical politics?

I can only regret that such situation has really developed. To speak only about “atrocities of People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs” in a context of cruelty of 30th years, reprisals and struggle with “national-svidomits” became not only fashionable, but also profitable. It is a large-scale attempt to discredit the historical past connected with the USSR, first of all, by means of mass media. It is not a secret that the attempt to present the events in Ukraine in the following way occurs because of aspiration to remove Ukraine and Russia from each other as much as possible, to bring the opposition, mistrust and the conflict in their relations. I’m convinced: it is not casually - it is accurately thought over program of actions which includes also an element about which we speak. The main thing in this situation is to open such intentions, to struggle with falsifications and to prove the true, being based on numerous documents and testimony of direct participants of events of those years.