no sooner had the mala tav ribbentrop pact been signed then poland was split and in september of 1939 eastern poland awoke to be western ukraine and a part of the family of soviet republics and the u.s.s.r. . but even this bold dividing of lands and nations only delayed the inevitable germany broke its promise to the u.s.s.r. . on june 22nd 1941 germany invaded the u.s.s.r. launching barbara rossa the largest military operation in world history. barbara was aiming for st petersburg moscow and kiev ukraine 3 destinations of major significance. ukraine with its rich lands in resources was an important industrial and economic source for the u.s.s.r. to cut it off from the soviet union would strike a big blow indeed. for most of the soviet union the 2nd world war was about fighting the invaders of the land. but it wasn't quite so simple for ukraine the truth is ukraine has never been a united country. when world war 2 broke out a large part of western ukraine's population welcomed the german soldiers as liberators from the recently forced upon them soviet rule and openly collaborated with