FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF CHEKIST-MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST THE BANDIT FORMATIONS OF THE OUN/UPA IN 1945-1947

Abstract

Using the materials of the Russian State Military Archive (RGVA) introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the article reveals the procedure and practice of conducting Chekist-military operations by the internal troops of the NKVD/Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR against nationalist gangs in Western Ukraine in the years in the first post-war years. In the post-war years, despite changes in the forms and methods of combating nationalist gangs, mass Chekist-military operations continued. Banditry was recognized as their main object for the internal troops in the period under study. The latter was an extreme form of open armed struggle between the nationalist underground and the Soviet government, with the active support of the special services of foreign states. The western regions of Soviet Ukraine were one of the main centers of bandit manifestations, which were directed from a single center. From the historical and legal standpoint, the author analyzes the basic principles and elements of the organization and conduct of these operations, as well as their content.