While it was true that a very large and powerful anti-communist insurgency had fought Soviet forces in Ukraine to a near standstill, that had been in 1947. In the intervening years, the KGB and the Red Army had steadily annihilated the Ukrainian Insurgent Army through ambushes, infiltration schemes and collective punishment search-and-destroy missions. In March 1950, with the UPA already decimated, the KGB had tracked down and killed its fugitive leader, leaving the group rudderless.
