Pavlo Shandruk Ukrainian, Polish military leader, general-coronet of the UPR army (1920), colonel general of the UNA (1945). Date of Birth: 28.02.1889 Country: Ukraine

1. Biography of Pavlo Shandruk
2. Military Career in Poland
3. Leadership of the Ukrainian National Army
4. Life after the War

Biography of Pavlo Shandruk

Pavlo Shandruk was a Ukrainian and Polish military figure, a General-Ensign of the Ukrainian People's Republic Army (1920) and a Lieutenant-General of the Ukrainian National Army (1945). He was born in Volhynia and graduated from the Nezhin Historical and Philological Institute of Prince Bezborodko in 1911 and the Alekseevskoye Military School in Moscow in 1913. Shandruk served in the First World War and reached the rank of staff captain. He joined the Ukrainian People's Republic Army from 1917 to 1920 and became the commander of the Third Iron Division Brigade and a General-Ensign.

Military Career in Poland

After the Ukrainian People's Republic Army, Shandruk moved to Poland where he became one of the founders of the military journal "Tabor." In 1938, he graduated from the Polish Academy of the General Staff. During the 1939 military operations against German forces, Shandruk commanded the 29th Brigade of the Polish Army. However, he was captured by the Germans and was only freed after agreeing to cooperate with the Ukrainian Central Committee.

Leadership of the Ukrainian National Army

On March 12, 1945 (according to other sources, at the end of 1944), Shandruk became the leader of the so-called Ukrainian National Committee, established in Weimar. On April 24, 1945, he became the commander of the so-called Ukrainian National Army, which was formed by the Rosenberg agency based on the 14th SS Division "Galicia" (in the Ukrainian National Army, it was known as the 1st Ukrainian Division). Shandruk led the division away from the front even before Germany's surrender.

Life after the War

After the war, Shandruk was taken as a prisoner but demanded a personal meeting with General Władysław Anders, whom he knew from their military actions in 1939. Thanks to Anders' intervention, Shandruk was released. He lived in exile in Germany, and from 1949 in the United States. In 1965, he was awarded the Polish Order of Virtuti Militari for his heroism during the 1939 military operations. Shandruk was also known as an author of works on military history, including "The Ukrainian-Moscow War in 1920 in Documents" (1933) and "Arms of Valor" (New York 1959).