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The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Template:Lang-ua) was a Ukrainian guerrilla army formed on October 14, 1942, in Volhynia. The UPA was the military branch of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The main goal of the UPA was an independent Ukraine. Its leaders were Roman Shukhevych and Stepan Bandera.

The UPA fought a broad spectrum of military forces in the area: the German Wehrmacht, the Polish Armia Krajowa and the Soviet Red Army. After World War II, UPA partisan units continued fighting the Soviet Union and communist Poland until the early 1950s, especially in Carpathian Mountains regions. It was unique among practically all resistence movements in Nazi-occupied Europe in that it had no significant foreign support, making its growth and strength an indication of its popularity among the Ukrainian people.

UPA's struggle against Germany

UPA was formed in late 1942 for three reasons: in order to serve as a foundation for a Ukrainian army; in response to the needs of Ukrainian villagers who demanded protection against German repression; and in order to prevent Soviet partisans who had begun penetrating into northwestern Ukraine from assuming the role of the people's protector. During this struggle it grew in size and its activities increased in scope to cover much of western Ukraine, and were able to send small groups of raiders deep into eastern Ukraine. German estimates stated that UPA had up to 100,000 soldiers (other estimates are as low as 35,000 and as high as 200,000), and they conducted hundreds of raids on German police stations and military convoys. By late 1943 and early 1944, UPA controlled much of the territory in Volyn outside of the major cities, and was able to organize basic services for the villagers such as schools, hospitals, and the printing of newspapers. In the region of Zhitomir, for example, Ukrainian fighters were estimated by the German General-Kommisar Leyser to be in control of 80% of the forests and 60% of the farmland.

The Carpathian mountains saw some of the heaviest fighting between UPA and German forces in late 1943 and early 1944, as the UPA struggled to maintain control over several of the mountain passes. In November 1943, UPA battle groups Black Forest and Makivka defeated 12 German battalions supported by the German airforce, in a battle over control of UPA-held territory. In May and July 1944, two more attempts by the Germans to capture Carpathian mountain passes were repulsed. The latter victory involved the defeat of two German divisions supported by artillery. On July 26, 1944, near the village of Nedilna, the UPA defeated another German division, and captured its entire supply column, including many officers and soldiers.

1. Subtelny, O. (1988). Ukraine: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 474.
2. Toynbee, T.R.V. (1954). Survey of International Affairs: Hitler's Europe 1939-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. {{cite book| author=Kro