Northern Group of the Ukrainian Galician Army

Northern Group of the Ukrainian Galician Army (Pivnichna hrupa UHA). A grouping of Ukrainian Galician Army (UHA) units located northwest of Lviv in December 1918. In January 1919 this group was reorganized into the First Corps of the UHA, which consisted of four brigades (the Sokal Brigade of the Ukrainian Galician Army, the Rava Brigade of the Ukrainian Galician Army, the Uhniv Brigade of the Ukrainian Galician Army, and the Yaniv Brigade of the Ukrainian Galician Army) and the First Cavalry Regiment. During 1919 the First Corps held the right wing of the front against the Polish army. Its commanders were Lt Col Viktor Kurmanovych, Col Osyp Mykytka, and Col A. Shamanek. When the UHA was incorporated into the Red Army, the First Corps was re-formed as the Second Brigade of the Red Ukrainian Galician Army. Its commanders were Maj Omelian Lesniak and Capt Yuliian Holovinsky. On 23 April 1920 the unit deserted the Red Army and attempted to join the Army of the Ukrainian National Republic, but it was disarmed and interned by the Poles.

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