The Raid of the Ivan Bogun Detachment to Chełm Land (May–July, 1944)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the raid of the UPA Ivan Bogun Detachment from Volhynia to Kholmshchyna (Сhełm Land) and back. The research methodology is based on the use of general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, abstraction and generalization) combined with the principles of historicism, objectivity, system and development. The scientific novelty of the work is that the participation of the Volhynia I. Bogun Detachment from the UPA-North in the Polish-Ukrainian confrontation in the Kholmshchyna, its organizational structure, numerical strength, command staff were determined and the circumstances of crossing the German-Soviet front line were analyzed for the first time in the historiography of the Ukrainian Liberation Movement. Conclusions. I. Bogun Detachment of the UPA-North “Turiv” Group conducted the raid from Volyn Oblast. to Kholm Land in May 1944 to avoid the danger of defeat by regular Wehrmacht units and to wait until it was possible to cross the front line. Once on the territory of the modern Lublin Voivodeship of Poland, O. Gromadiuk‑"Ostrizky's" detachment stationed in villages along the Western Bug River, and also skirmished with German troops. At the end of July 1944, the I. Bogun Detachment broke through the line of the German-Soviet front and returned to Volhynia. During the raid, the insurgent unit consisted of six companies, numbering about 600 soldiers, and in the course of the difficult passage of the front suffered casualties, many troopers straggled or dispersed. Accordingly, after the return, the strength of the detachment was reduced to 320—365 soldiers. In October 1944, the I. Bogun Detachment was reorganized into the Kholm Brigade, which was subordinated to Group Formation № 33 (“Zawichost”) of the UPA-North.