Ukrainian National Army

:"Not to be confused with the Ukrainian People's Army, which is often called the Ukrainian National Army or, UNA"Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Ukrainian National Army


caption=Symbol of the Ukrainian National Army
dates= 15 April, 1945 - 7 May 1945
country= Ambiguous self interpretation
allegiance= Ukrainian Popular Republic in Exile [Melnyk, Michal James (2002). To Battle, The History and Formation of the 14th Waffen SS Grenadier Division, second updated edition 2007, Helion and Co, p268 ] [Abbott Peter, Pinak Eugene, (2004). Ukrainian Armies 1914 - 1955, OspreyPublishing, p41 ]
type= Infantry
size= 50 thousand
battles=World War II
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commander1=
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commander2=
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commander3=
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notable_commanders=Pavlo Shandruk
identification_symbol=
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Ukrainian National Army (UNA) was a World War II Ukrainian military group, formed in 1945 in Germany and subordinate to Ukrainian National Committee.

The army, commanded by Pavlo Shandruk consisted of two divisions and a special "group B":
* 1. UNA Division formed from the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Galizien (1st Ukrainian)
* 2. UNA Division being organized from two Ukrainian brigades (anti-tank brigade "Free Ukraine" and the brigade commanded by Major Pituley)
* special Gruppe B of Otaman Taras Bulba-Borovets [http://zustrich.quebec-ukraine.com/lib/bulba/bulba_307armee.htm АРМІЯ БЕЗ ДЕРЖАВИ] , by Taras Bulba-Borovets 1952 revised on 1981.] , Also Ukrainian Free Cossacks of colonel Tereshchenko, the 1. Reserve Brigade of Colonel HudymaFact|date=August 2008, the 2. Reserve Brigade of Colonel Malets and the remnants of the Ukrainian Liberation Army (UVV) joined the UNA's ranks.

Plans were made regarding the inclusion of the Ukrainian Freedom Army (120 thousand soldiers), Kuban Cossacks and Georgian military divisions.

The primary purpose of creation of the Ukrainian National Army was to integrate all the Ukrainian units fighting on the Nazi Germany side under a single command. The intended size of the army, encompassing all the Ukrainian units subordinate to Oberkommando des Heeres was 220 thousand. However within the two months left till the end of the war, Shandruk was able to gather about 50 thousand soldiers.

In reality, Shandruk was able to command only the 1. UNA Division and elements of the 2. UNA Division. On May 7, under his influence, the division located in western Austria by this time after slowly moving from Slovenia (February 1945), withdrew further from Red Army forces. The "Army" now split into several groups, with one heading towards Italian border and surrendering to the British Army's 15th Army Group and others moved toward the German and Swiss borders and surrendered to the US Army'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 in London, and asked him to protect the army against the deportation to Soviet Union. 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.

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 Andrei Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army (KONR) and was never subordinated to it.

References

Further reading

*cite book |last= Shandruk |first= Pavlo |title= Arms of valor |url= http://lib.galiciadivision.com/shandruk/ |accessdate= 2008-08-18 |edition= 1st ed. |year= 1959 |publisher= Robert Speller & Sons Publishers |location= New York