Lysonia (3rd) Group of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army

Lysonia (3rd) Group of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Тернопільська [3] група УПА Лисонія; Ternopilska [3] hrupa UPA Lysonia). A division of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)-West comprising combat units operating on the sparsely forested territory of the Third Military District (covering Ternopil oblast). Organized in 1943, units of the Lysonia Group fought their first battle with the Germans on 16 December 1943 in Koropets raion. By 1944 the Lysonia Group numbered at least 12 rifle companies and conducted its own school for noncommissioned officers. In the summer of 1944 most of the group moved temporarily into the Carpathian Mountains to avoid the German-Soviet front line, which came to a halt in the middle of Ternopil oblast. In August some of the returning companies were grouped into battalions and launched a series of raids against the NKVD. In September O. Polovy's brigade, consisting of two UPA battalions, fought several engagements in Berezhany county and then set off on a raid to Volhynia. Along the way it fought pitched battles on 24 September in Pochaiv raion and on 27 September in Zboriv raion. The largest battle in the district occurred on 30 September near Univ, Peremyshliany raion, when Dmytro Karpenko's battalion pushed back a motorized NKVD brigade. In November 1944 Bystry's battalion set out on a raid from the Berezhany area through southern Galicia into Bukovyna, where it crossed the Dnister River and fought a major battle on 29 November.

In 1945 the Third Military District was restructured and divided into four tactical sectors, numbered from 16 to 19. The number of combat units was reduced, and they were assigned to specific sectors. During the summer of 1947 the last three companies were demobilized, and their soldiers were reassigned to the armed underground. The commanders of the Lysonia Group were Lt O. Polovy (nom de guerre: Ostap, 1943–5) and Maj Volodymyr Yakubovsky (nom de guerre: Bondarenko, 1945–7).

Petro Sodol

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]