The Ukrainian National Army (, abbreviated , UNA) was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Ukrainian military group, created on March 17, 1945, in the town of

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, and subordinate to

Ukrainian National Committee The Ukrainian National Committee ( ) was a Ukrainian political structure created under the leadership of Pavlo Shandruk, on March 17 (or March 12), 1945 in Weimar, Nazi Germany, nearly two months before the German Instrument of Surrender, with the ...

History

The army, formed on April 15, 1945, and commanded by General Pavlo Shandruk, consisted of the following units: * 1st Galicia Division (formerly, 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician), however, there is no proof to demonstrate that the renaming was done formally) * 2nd Division, organized into two brigades – the Free Ukraine Anti-Tank Brigade (Вільна Україна) and a second brigade – from remnants of the Ukrainian Liberation Army and other Ukrainian units, led by General Petro Dyachenko; * B Group (50 men) led by General Taras Bulba-Borovets;АРМІЯ БЕЗ ДЕРЖАВИ
, by Taras Bulba-Borovets 1952 revised on 1981. * Ukrainian Free Cossacks led by Colonel Tereshchenko; * 1st Reserve Brigade led by Colonel Hudyma; * 2nd Reserve Brigade led by Colonel Malets. Plans were made regarding the inclusion of the Ukrainian Liberation Army,

Kuban Cossacks Kuban Cossacks (; ), or Kubanians (, ''kubantsy''; , ''kubantsi''), are Cossacks who live in the Kuban region of Russia. Most of the Kuban Cossacks are descendants of different major groups of Cossacks who were re-settled to the western Norther ...

and Georgian military divisions. The primary purpose of creation of the Ukrainian National Army was to integrate all the Ukrainian units fighting the Soviets under a single command. The intended size of the army, encompassing all the Ukrainian units subordinate to

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat ...

was 220,000. However within the two months left till the end of the war, Shandruk was able to gather about 50,000 soldiers. The Monument of the SS-Galicia in Lviv Ukraine

The Monument of the SS-Galicia in Lviv Ukraine

In reality, Shandruk was able to command only the 1st Division and elements of the 2nd Division. On May 7, under his influence, the division – located in Western Austria by this time, after slowly moving from

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

(February 1945) – withdrew further from

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

forces. The Army now split into several groups, with one heading towards the Italian border and surrendering to the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

's 15th Army Group, while others moved toward the German and Swiss borders and surrendered to the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

's 6th Army Group. The UNA soldiers were interned in Northern Italy, in the area controlled by Polish II Corps forces. After the capitulation, Shandruk asked for a meeting with Polish general

Władysław Anders Władysław Albert Anders (11 August 1892 – 12 May 1970) was a Polish military officer and politician, and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London. Born in Krośniewice-Błonie, then part of the Russian Empire, he serv ...

in London, and asked him to protect the army against the deportation to

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Despite the Soviet pressure, Anders managed to protect Ukrainian soldiers as the former citizens of the Second Republic of Poland. Shandruk and the bulk of his forces managed to remain in the West, with many of the former UNA soldiers joining the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

. Other groups, splintered, either surrendered to the Soviet or the Western Allies, facing repatriation, with several hundred interned in Switzerland. The UNA had a bad relationship with general

Andrey Vlasov Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov (, – August 1, 1946) was a Soviet Russian Red Army general. During the Eastern Front (World War II), Axis-Soviet campaigns of World War II, he fought (1941–1942) against the ''Wehrmacht'' in the Battle of Moscow ...

Russian Liberation Army The Russian Liberation Army (; , ), also known as the Vlasov army () was a collaborationist formation, primarily composed of Russians, that fought under German command during World War II. From January 1945, the army was led by Andrey Vlasov, ...

and was never subordinated to it.

History

References

Further reading