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Roman Shukhevych

Commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during the Second World War and the subsequent anti-Soviet insurgency. His wartime record includes service in German formations and responsibility for violence against Polish civilians.

Portrait of Roman Shukhevych

Photographer unidentified · Public domain · Image source

Biography

Roman Shukhevych was born near Lviv in 1907, trained as an engineer, and entered the Ukrainian nationalist underground as a young man. He belonged to the Ukrainian Military Organization and later the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, participating in their activities in interwar Poland.

During the Second World War he served in the German-organised Nachtigall battalion and later in Schutzmannschaft Battalion 201 in Belarus. He subsequently went underground and became commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in 1943. He led the continuing armed struggle against Soviet rule after the war and was killed by Soviet security forces near Lviv in March 1950.

His command must also be considered in relation to the UPA's mass violence against Polish civilians in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. Historians debate the precise extent of his personal direction and responsibility, but those killings cannot be separated from the history of the force he led. His role in anti-Soviet resistance and his wartime record both shape his contested legacy.

  • ODFFU Archive: People Biographies

    Biographical text adapted and translated from the supplied manuscript.

    Consulted 2026-09-14

Biographical sources