Nachtigall Battalion
Prior to Operation Barbarossa, the Stepan Bandera's Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) collaborated with Nazi Germany and in fact received its training there. According to the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and other sources, OUN-R leader Stepan Bandera held meetings with the heads of Germany's intelligence, regarding the formation of the Nachtigall and Roland Battalions. February 25, 1941, Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, sanctioned the creation of the "Ukrainian Legion" under German command. The unit would have had 800 persons. Roman Shukhevych became a commander of the Legion from the OUN-R side. OUN expected that the unit would become the core of the future Ukrainian army. In the spring the OUN received 2.5 million marks for subversive activities against the USSR. In the spring of 1941 the Legion was reorganized into 2 units. One of the units became known as Nachtigall Battalion, a second became the Roland Battalion.