How Moscow overcame the UPA: a lesson in history - Vladimir Vyatrovich.

The USSR, from the very beginning, had significantly more than the insurgents: weapons, manpower, and all other resources. The prolonged resistance of the UPA relied on a crucial resource that only the underground army possessed, which the Soviets lacked – trust between the fighters and the civilian population. The insurgents were seen as "our guys" by the locals. Most of them had been neighbors or relatives just yesterday, living nearby before they had to take up arms. They had worked together, celebrated, sometimes argued, and then made up.

A fighter needed weapons, ammunition, food, and information. All of this came from those who had not "gone into the woods." Because these last ones, who of course should have been more in number (to support one partisan, about 8 civilians are needed), believed in, respected, and honored everyone who dared to defend them, risking their lives.

The warriors also trusted those from whom they received vital resources, not only because they were their close ones and relatives but also because they understood that the potential for struggle depended on them, realizing that without the support of the "village," there would be no "forest."

But the Soviets soon realized this as well. Therefore, they directed their efforts to destroy the mutual trust between the insurgents and the population. To do this, using intimidation or bribery, they recruited informants among the locals who began to betray the underground fighters. This was not easy in an environment where everyone knew everything about each other (since they lived nearby and saw everything), but the Chekists had the time and inspiration to continue their pressure.

Moreover, they spread lies about mass betrayals, claiming that every second person in the village was collaborating with them. Initially, recruitment was carried out secretly so that no one could see that contact had occurred. Then, almost everyone was summoned to the NKVD office publicly, so others could see. This led to hundreds of residents from each village being involved. Some genuinely agreed to collaborate, while most did not.

However, no one except the Chekists knew who exactly became an agent. Thus, suspicion began to fall on everyone. Distrust spread like a virus among those who had worked together and supported the underground just yesterday. Fear aided in this spread. The price of betrayal was extremely high. For those who helped the UPA, it could mean sending their entire family to Siberia; for the insurgents, it simply meant death. Therefore, the traitors were brutally punished by the underground fighters – executed, so that others would think twice before doing the same. Over time, the number of those who became victims of undeserved vengeance, who were successfully framed by the underground, began to rise.

The "guys from the woods" began to be feared in the villages. Especially since often those who killed were not "ours," but disguised Chekists who deliberately committed brutal crimes against the local population to discredit the UPA.

Paranoia evenly paralyzed the usual connections among the residents of a single village and between the village and the forest. It corroded the unity that had been the foundation of the struggle like rust. No one knew who was a friend and who was a traitor anymore. People stopped recognizing their own, and traitors were seen everywhere. The underground lost the support it relied on and began to fade away. The Chekists were left to carry out the final purge.

Remember: Moscow knows how to divide to destroy better than anyone.