The main reason for the greater split was the formation of armed units by Andriy Melnyk to fight the Soviet partisans, who were growing in strength, and at the same time to protect the Ukrainian population from German terror.

The military units of the OUN-M grew noticeably in strength in the early spring of 1943, when they were joined by many Ukrainian policemen who had abandoned their service to Germany in a mass desertion.

[2] According to the memoirs of Maxim Skorupski ("Maks") of the UPA Chickens, during the four months of its existence, the unit of M. Niedzwiecki fought 12 battles and armed skirmishes, of which 10 with the Germans, 1 (May 1, 1943 near Kuty) with the Polish police and 1 (06.4-5.1943) - with the Soviet partisans of S. Kovpak .

Nonetheless, there were incidents in Volhynia when the Melnykovists - primarily on the initiative of local commanders - fought Polish partisans and self-defence, and attacked civilians.

In Volhynia, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army units, acting by surprise, surrounded and disarmed the Melnykov sotnias of "Chrin" and "Bily".

[3] The story of the Legion's formation began with the arrest of a liaison officer nicknamed 'Okun' by a detachment of Polish auxiliary police.

Due to the considerable amount of OUN-M agitation and propaganda material found in the detainee, the Poles handed "Okun" over to the Lutsk Gestapo.

Mychajlo Soltys ("Cherkas"), one of the leaders of the residents of Mielnikovo in the Lutsk region, found out about the case quite quickly and immediately sent a letter to the Gestapo threatening widespread and all-out terror against the representatives of the German authorities and the Wehrmacht.

[4] The district assembly, convened by the leadership of the hundreds of Melnikovs, decided that such negotiations could be undertaken and appointed "Cherkas" as head of the Ukrainian delegation.

The Ukrainian side agreed to local cooperation, but set a number of conditions:[4] Probably in August 1943, a partisan unit was formed in Volhynia from among members of the OUN-M field structures who had been denounced by the OUN Security Service.

In the second half of August or early September in the cemetery in the village of Milosz the first meeting took place between representatives of the Lutsk OUN-M Provincial and officers of the local SD.

Eventually an agreement was made whereby the Melnykovists agreed to form a unit to fight Soviet and Polish partisans in cooperation with the Germans.

In return, the Germans agreed to release the arrested Melnykovites and declared that they would limit repressions against the local Ukrainian population.

[6] Initially, the ULS appeared under the name Rejdujczyj Viddil, but as early as spring1944 German reports refer to it as Kampfgruppe Assmussi Sonderheit Assmuss and even Melnikkam pfgruppe.

[7] Organisationally, the legion consisted of three militia and one economic hundred (the commanders were centurions "Nechay", Mykhailo Karkots, Yu.

It was also joined by two German liaison officers who had previously participated in the negotiations for the establishment of the Legion: SS-Hauptsturmführer Siegfried Assmuss and SS-Oberscharführer Gustav Rauling.

During this time, it fought against Polish and Soviet partisans, including above all the 1st Battalion of the Hrubieszów BCh Troops commanded by Stanisław Basaj, pseud.

The following day, during an anti-apartheid operation against the "Ryś" unit, together with officers of other German and Ukrainian police formations, they pacified the village of Smoligów, murdering between 70 and 230 inhabitants.

This officer - enjoying, according to some sources, a great deal of trust from the SD - became chief of staff and deputy commander of the ULS.

The relocation of the Legion from the partially Ukrainian-populated areas on the Bug River to the ethnically Polish environs of Miechów caused great dissatisfaction in the ranks of the formation.

The situation was aggravated by the conduct of Biegelmayer, who, unlike his predecessor, made no secret of the fact that he regarded the ULS solely as a tool in the hands of the Sicherheitspolizei.

During one of these actions, on 5 August 1944, the legionaries murdered 11 inhabitants of the village of Szarbia The confrontation between Melnikov's Legion and the Bandera UPA continued.

The political leadership of the ULS opposed the order to go to Warsaw because, in its view, it dismissed the prospect of fighting for Ukrainian independence and, at the same time, reduced the Legion solely to the role of a German police unit.

Consequently, one of the political leaders of the ULS, Mykhailo Soltys alias "Cherkas", disappeared without news, most likely detained and murdered by the Gestapo.

[13] It was headed by Colonel Petro Diachenko, an officer recently assigned to the ULS who, according to some sources, had strong ties with the German Sicherheitsdienst.

It is possible that the ULS then occupied positions between the present-day park of Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły and the bank of the Vistula, from where they advanced northwards towards Wilanowska and Ludna Streets.

[18] Of the war crimes committed by the Germans and their collaborators in Warsaw, only one can be indisputably attributed to the ULS policemen, i.e. the rape and murder of three Polish women at 23 Bednarska St.

At the same time, however, it cannot be completely disavowed, as it is not excluded that the author of this publication had access to protocols of testimonies of former legionaries found in the KGB archives.

[20] While Diachenko's combat group was fighting in Warsaw, the "Makuch" sotnia was conducting counter-partisan operations in the vicinity of Nowy Sącz, Krynica and Czorsztyn.

Shortly afterwards, despite earlier guarantees of safety, the provost of the desertion was killed by the Germans in unclear circumstances[22] In March 1945, the ULS was finally disbanded and incorporated into the 14th SS DGren.