Ukrainian Sich Riflemen Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen ( ; ) was a Ukrainian unit within the Austro - Hungarian Army during the First World War . Scope . The unit was formed in August 1914 on the initiative of the Supreme Ukrainian Council . It was composed of members of different Ukrainian paramilitary organizations in Galicia , led by Frank Schott , and participated in hostilities on the Russian front . After World War I , with Austria ' s disintegration , the unit became the regular military unit of the West Ukrainian People ' s Republic . During German and Austrian occupation of Ukraine in 1918 the unit was stationed in southern Ukraine . Former unit soldiers participated in the formation of Sich Riflemen , a military unit of the Ukrainian People ' s Republic . In 1919 the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen expanded into the Ukrainian Galician Army ( ) . They participated in the Polish – Ukrainian War around Lviv and suffered heavy losses . On May 2 , 1920 , the unit was disbanded . Origins and formation . A number of Ukrainian youth organizations formed in Galicia as early as 1894 , the result of the growing national consciousness among Ukrainians in Galicia . In 1900 , a sports / firefighting organization " Sich " was founded by a lawyer and social activist Kyrylo Tryliovs ' kyi in Sniatyn ( today ' s Ivano - Frankivsk Oblast ) , which rejuvenated the ideas of Cossack Zaporozhian Sich to foster the national patriotism among the young generation . Alongside these organizations , forming all across Galicia , parallel sports / firefighting organizations ( " Sokil " ) ( Falcon ) were also springing up . By 1912 , many smaller " Sich " companies appeared in numerous Ukrainian communities . Along with these youth organizations , a Women ' s Organizational Committee was set up to train nurses . The Ukrainian Sich Union coordinated the activities of all local " Sich " companies and printed its own newspaper , " The Sich News " . By the start of the First World War there were at least 2000 such organizations in Galicia and Bukovyna In 1911 , a philosophy student from Lviv , Ivan Chmola , organized a secret paramilitary group , composed of young men and women from Lviv University , Academic Gymnasium , and other local schools . These enthusiasts learned how to use firearms , prepared military manuals , translated military terminology and lobbied the Austrian authorities to legalize the Ukrainian paramilitary organizations . They were greatly influenced by the similar Polish paramilitary organizations , such as Związek Strzelecki , that were quite numerous , well - organized and — unlike the Ukrainian organizations — legal . This group later published its own newspaper , " Vidhuk " , and continued to organize Lviv ' s Ukrainian youth . However , several attempts to legalize it were blocked by the local authorities , who were mostly Poles . Although initially Chmola chose the name " Plast " for this formation , this group represented only one isolated attempt to organize the Ukrainian youth into a legitimate scouting movement under this name . In June 1912 , Dr . Oleksandr Tysovs ' kyi , a teacher at the Academic Gymnasium in Lviv , administered a ceremony , at which a group of young students under his tutelage took a scout ' s oath . Thus the official Ukrainian scouting organization Plast was born . Explicitly paramilitary elements were expressly excluded by the organization ' s constitution , written by Dr . Tysovs ' kyi , because he desired to focus the its efforts primarily on fostering the ideological aspect of national patriotism , as well as , of course , on advancing the standard scouting curriculum . Possessing greater authority and commanding respect in the Lviv civil society , Dr . Tysovs ' kyi won the upper hand , and Ivan Chmola eventually joined efforts with him . Nevertheless , Chmola continued his efforts to train the youth , started organizing scouting camps and teaching adolescents various survival skills , orienteering in different terrains and similar useful skills based on self - reliance , discipline and , most importantly , fellowship . This initiative attracted several prominent individuals , who would later also play important roles in the creation of the Sich Riflemen — for example , Petro Franko , Ivan Franko ' s son . And many individuals continued to secretly train militarily , of their own accord . Finally , Kyrylo Tryliovs ' kyi translated a similar statute of a Polish paramilitary sharpshooter organization and submitted it to the Austrian authorities for approval . This time , the officials had no choice but to grant approval , and a society of " Sich Sharpshooters " ( " Sichovi Stril ' tsi " ) was finally legalized in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria on March 18 , 1913 . The first such company was set up in Lviv , soon to be augmented by Ivan Chmola and his group . Legalization of Sich Sharpshooters gave impetus to other Ukrainian youth organizations , and the ranks of " Sich " , " Sokil " and " Plast " subsequently swelled up all across Western Ukraine . In the spring of 1913 , the Ukrainian Sich League was formed in Lviv , and a statute of Ukrainian Sich Sharpshooters ( USS ) was drafted . On January 25 , 1914 , the second society " Sich Sharpshooters II " was organized in Lviv , numbering over 300 members . " Sich Sharpshooters I " included mostly students and " Sich Sharpshooters II " - mostly workers and peasants . By World War I , there were 96 " Sich Sharpshooter " societies in Galicia alone . Plast was by then transformed into a full - fledged scouting organization with branches in many towns and villages . Many of these young scouts would continue to voluntarily join " Ukrainian Sich Sharpshooter " movement even well after the war was over , and future generations would also participate in the liberation struggles between the wars and in World War II . After many trials and tribulations , having survived in the Ukrainian Diaspora , Plast was reorganized in Ukraine shortly before Ukraine ' s independence in 1991 and continues to be the largest scouting organization in Ukraine , fostering the values of national patriotism among Ukrainian youth . Initially there was no unanimity among the founders of the Ukrainian Sich League as to its goals : some wanted complete independence of the Ukrainian people from the Austro - Hungarian empire , and some wanted limited autonomy within the empire . The pro - Austrian faction prevailed , and only units loyal to the Habsburg monarchy were allowed to exist . From its inception , Ukrainian Sich Sharpshooters saw Russia as their main enemy and were preparing to liberate Ukrainian lands from under the yoke of Russian Empire . In Galicia and Bukovyna , Sich Sharpshooters were also circulating a magazine called " Vidhuk " ( " Response " ) . In 1914 , a statute of USS was published , which established the order of service and the uniforms , provided military terminology and commands in the Ukrainian language . That same year ammunition and rifles were procured for a 10 , 000 - strong " Legion of Ukrainian Sich Sharpshooters " , which participated in Lviv parade on June 28 , 1914 , along with all of the youth organizations - " Sich " , " Sokil " and " Plast " . That same day , Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist , precipitating the chain of events that led to World War I . One month later , World War I broke out and the newly established General Ukrainian Council published in a Lviv newspaper " Dilo " the call for Galician Ukrainians to form volunteer units to fight the Russian Empire . The Ukrainian leaders in Austria - Hungary hoped that the formation of these units would advance the cause of national liberation . They also sought to dispel the suspicions of some Galician Russophiles that the Ukrainians in that area were sympathetic to Russia . The Austrian war ministry was not prepared for this initiative of the General Ukrainian Council and allowed creation of a unit with only 2 , 500 men . The first volunteers were mainly members of Ukrainian nationalist organizations such as " Sich " , " Sokil " and " Plast " .