FSB: in 1944 Smersh prevented a rebellion of Ukrainian nationalists in the Red Army
In the summer of 1944, the Soviet military counterintelligence “Smersh” foiled an armed rebellion that was being plotted by Ukrainian nationalists who had specifically infiltrated the Red Army. The corresponding archival document was declassified and made public by the Russian FSB on the eve of the 81st anniversary of the organization’s creation.
Nikolai Selivanovsky, deputy head of the Main Counterintelligence Directorate “Smersh” of the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense, then sent a memo to the Chairman of the State Defense Committee Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov.
It reported that from April 1 to August 25 of that year, Smershevites arrested more than 6.6 thousand people, of which more than 4.2 thousand were members of the OUN-UPA (Organization of Ukrainian nationalists – Ukrainian Insurgent Army, extremist organizations banned in Russia).
It was established that a significant part of them (…) brutally dealt with Soviet activists and prisoners of war, carrying out attacks on Soviet partisan detachments, and conducted enemy propaganda among the population directed against the Soviet Union
Members of the OUN-UPA received direct instructions from the leaders
According to the investigation, during the mobilization carried out in Western Ukraine liberated from the Nazi occupation, members of the OUN-UPA received instructions from the leaders who were underground to go to military service – to join the ranks of the Red Army and create nationalist groups in military units for subversive and terrorist work .
It was also established that the nationalists were preparing an armed uprising in the regiment, hoping to attract all the personnel to their side. The attackers intended to “seize weapons and ammunition stored in nearby military warehouses, destroy the regiment’s officers, and then join forces with the UPA gangs hiding in the forests of Western Ukraine.”
According to Selivanovsky, following these instructions, Ukrainian nationalists were engaged in anti-Soviet agitation in the ranks of conscripted Ukrainians under the slogan of “struggle for an independent Ukraine,” creating rebel groups, disintegrating military discipline and organizing the desertion of Red Army soldiers with weapons into UPA gangs.
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“Smersh” foiled the rebellion of Ukrainian nationalists in the Red Army
The author of the note addressed to Stalin clarified that in connection with this fact, in July 1944, a rebel group was arrested from among the military personnel of the 148th reserve rifle regiment of the 20th reserve rifle division, including its organizers – Kucher E.A., Zarusinsky N. .M. and Shevchuk M.I.
In addition, the investigation established that the OUN members, mobilized in western Ukraine, were already preparing for an armed uprising on their way to reserve units, already having connections with the OUN leadership, which had settled underground.
The investigation into the case has been completed and all the accused have been brought to trial.
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