UPRA Underground Activity on Ukraine Territories in the Post-War Period ; Діяльність підпілля УНРА на теренах України у післявоєнний період
The main idea of the article is to focus on the less studied issue of the Ukrainian liberation movement in the post-war period which is the underground activity of the Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army (UPRA) or "bulbivtsi" as they were usually called on behalf of the unchanging leader of Taras Borovets – "Bulba".It was observed that with the approach of the Red Army, most of the leaders of the UPRA moved to Germany. While being in exile they planned to continue the national liberation struggle. The ordinary underground members remaining in Ukraine had faced two main tasks set by the leadership of the UPRA: to diminish the influence of the "Bandera" on the local population and to prepare an ant-Soviet uprising, which should have begun simultaneously with the new war of the Soviet Union against the West.In the post-war period the activity of 'bulbivtsi' was documented by the units of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs in the Volyn, Zhytomyr, Lviv, Stanislav, Vinnytsia, Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia regions. Notwithstanding, they achieved more or less noticeable results in their organizational activity only in six northern regions of the Rivne region. These were the very territories where "the 7th North group of UPRA" emerged at the beginning of 1945. It predominantly relied on a small, well-conspired organizational network which was created in former times of the German occupation. During rather a short period of time "bulbivtsi" managed to develop the official documentation of their organization – statutes, oath, instructions for chiefs of various levels, and others.During the spring of 1945, along with the "the 7th Northern Group of the UPRA", 5 sub-divisions were created: political, economic, communication, intelligence and military. Their main efforts were directed at organizational activity and propaganda. They campaigned against the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. They also arranged functioning of the underground typography in 1946 and produced bogus common state seals and stamps of state institutions.In spite of an old-established hostility, the 'bulbivtsi' tried to establish cooperation with the regional leadership of "Odesa", a group which was ideologically close, in opposition and also was in a conflict with the rest part of the "banderivtsi". Although, conflicts on a local level made it impossible. In the spring of 1946 in Lviv, the "7th Northern Group of UPRA" representative tried to get in touch with the Government of the Ukrainian People's Republic in exile. However, that trial did not succeed as well. Finally, the "7th North Group of UPRA" was forced to operate in isolation from other anti-Soviet underground movements.During 1947–1948, the Ministry of State Security employees conducted series of "bulbivtsi" arrests in Lviv and on the territory of Rivne region. In the course of those activities, a small sabotageterrorist group "7th Northern Group of UPRA" was destroyed, their organizational archive was discovered together with a cache of weapons and ammunition. Most of the arrested group members were sentenced to long-term, fifteen – twenty five years, imprisonment in correctional labor camps.Despite the last cells of the UPRA underground defeat made by the organs of the Ministry of State Security, the search for former "bulbivtsi" continued throughout the territory of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, including Donetsk and Crimean regions. Nevertheless, the largest number of former "bulbivtsi" kept on living in the northern regions of Rivne region. According to the documents of the State Security Committee, operational search work in this direction had lasted until 1955.To sum it up, the activity of the "bulbivtsi" underground and the "7th Northern Group of UPRA", as its component, was one of the phenomena of the Ukrainian liberation struggle in the post-war period. Without any connections with the leadership which was abroad and with no sufficient resources, they managed to revive their network and to continue the struggle with the Soviet authorities for another three years. ; У статті проаналізовано діяльність підпілля Української народно-революційної армії на території України у післявоєнний період. З'ясовано, що помітних результатів у організацій роботі вдалося досягти лише у шести районах півночі Рівненської обл. Саме на цих теренах упродовж 1945–1948 рр. діяла підпільна мереж "7-ї Північної групи УНРА". Їй вдалося утворити референтури: політичну, господарську, зв'язку, розвідувальну та військову. Головні зусилля "7-ї Північної групи УНРА" спрямовувалися на організаційну та пропагандистську діяльність. Крім того "бульбівці" намагалися налагодити співпрацю із ідеологічно близькими "бандерівцями". Однак, внутрішні усобиці на місцевому рівні її унеможливили. Незважаючи на незначні масштаби діяльності підпілля УНРА у післявоєнний період, за повної ізоляції та відсутності ресурсів, їм вдалося на кілька років реанімувати свою організацію