The tasks of the Northern Operational Group and Western Operational Group were eliminating and destroying the strongholds of the armed formations of the Polish Self–Defense in the villages of Huta Stepańska, Wyrka, Borek, Lady, Omelianki, Romaszkowe, Ciemne, Łomy, Mielniki, Huta Mydzka, Podselecze, Poliali, Hołyń, Kamenianka, Mielnicy, Hały, Wyróbki, Ostrówki, Osówicze, Szymonisko, Tur, Użane, Iwancze, Perespa, Berezówka, Kamenia, Siedliska and Żywka, from which Polish punitive attacks on the Ukrainian civilian population were carried out.
Both self-defense forces cooperated with each other, covering, in addition to Huta Stepańska and Wyrka, the following towns: Borek, Mielnica, Temne, Kamionka, Lady, Omelanka, Romaszkowo, Siedlisko, Ostrówek, Perespa, Ziwka, Hały, Szymonisko, Brzezina, Użanie, Soszniki, Tur and Wyrobki .
Władysław Kochański "Bomba", silent and dark, with the task of rebuilding the underground network of the Home Army in the Kostopol district, destroyed as a result of German arrests.
Ukrainian nationalists tried to identify self-defense forces, using village head Jakub Kryczylski as their agent and organizing mill expeditions and patrols.
After some time, the belief began to grow among the defenders of the village that the communist partisans treated cooperation with self-defense as an opportunity to recruit volunteers.
At the end of March 1943, a self-defense group from Huta Stepańska together with several Soviet partisans attacked Mielnica Mała, where they defeated the UPA militia, killing a dozen or so Ukrainians.
Similar aid was provided in June to the attacked Polish villages of Ziwka Stara, Brzezina, and Soszniki in Sarny County.
At night, UPA emissaries arrived in Huta Stepańska from the direction of Buteyky, demanding the surrender of the settlement under the threat of its complete destruction.
During the night of July 16–17, the self-defense forces of Vyrka and Sedlyshche, along with peaceful civilians, retreated to Huta Stepańska.
However, the partisan group "Max" left the village, taking with them 17 armed defenders of Huta, significantly weakening its defensive capability.
On the morning of July 17, 1943, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) launched a major assault on Huta Stepańska.
When, due to lack of ammunition, the decision was made to leave Huta Stepańska on July 18, 1943, several hundred carts filled with people were standing in front of the church and a column was being formed to march.
The armed defenders of Huta Stepańska, consisting of sworn Home Army soldiers, found shelter in Perespa near Antonovka, and then in Karachun.
At the beginning of August 1943, as a partisan unit of the Home Army under the command of "Bomba", in company strength they joined the self-defense in Huta Stara.
[10] A descendant of one of the saved families is Janusz Horoszkiewicz, guardian of Polish memorial sites in Volhynia, investigator of the OUN - UPA crimes, winner of the Custodian of National Remembrance award.
[12] According to Polish estimates, as a result of UPA attacks on towns located in the Huta Stepańska-Wyrka self-defense center on July 16–18, 1943. approximately 600 Poles died.