Index | Pre-Civil War Reichskommissariat Ukraine | Ukrainian Civil War | Post-Civil War Reichskommissariat Ukraine | Stus' Republic of Ukraine | Dziuba's Republic of Ukraine | Ohloblyn's Republic of Ukraine | Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic | Post-Civil War Ukrainian State | Klyachkivsky's Ukrainian State | Shukhevych's Ukrainian State | Stetsko's Ukrainian State
Though the undisputed Vozhd of the Ukrainian State, Stetsko knows that Ukraine can never beat Germany, when they inevitably return to eastern Europe. To survive, Stetsko will open Ukraine to German industrial and chemical corporations, selling out his own people to spare his own regime. By the time the Wehrmacht comes knocking at Ukraine's door, the country will already be a playground for German interests and dispel any need for them to invade. All other threats to Stetsko's reign will also be eliminated, specifically targeting those within the OUN who were once associated with Klyachkivsky and are suspected of harboring sympathies for the late Vozhd. Dmytro Maivsky, Head of the Foreign Office, is among those who are executed in the purges, despite being a loyal servant. His position is handed to Yaroslav's beloved wife, Slava.
Soon, the media falls into Stetsko's hands and the German settlers are given special protection, currying up favor from the Reich. For now, the only short-term goal left is invading Poland and taking Galicia, a hotly contested territory that Ukraine has claimed for decades. With Stetsko's plans to drive the Polish citizens living there, Galicia will not be given up without a fight, so the UPA mobilizes an invasion. They have limited time to win the war before too many casualties are sustained and the conflict becomes unpopular with a weary population.
Winning the Galician War within three weeks is optimal, as Stetsko has satisfied his territorial ambitions and sees this as a promising start for his regime. The mood is more muted if the war ends between three to six weeks, but it's an outright defeat if the war extends past that and the UPA is forced to withdraw. Having sustained so many losses, especially in the latter scenario to gain nothing, Stetsko feels uneasy that he's losing his grip and legitimacy in Ukraine. Uniquely, in case of defeat, Stetsko receives news that Yosyp Pozychanyuk, an ally of Shukhevych, has evaded capture, with rumored help from a mole in the government. Stetsko is last seen ordering a discreet investigation into who could've aided Pozychanyuk, with the fate of his regime less than certain.
This route provides examples of:
- Ambiguous Situation: In case the Galician War lasts longer than six weeks, Pozychanyuk will escape capture by Stetsko's forces. Lebed brings up his suspicions that there is a traitor in the government who helped Pozychanyuk, but Stetsko is skeptical and it's not yet clear if Lebed's hunch is founded.
- Child Soldiers: By the time the Galician War lasts longer than five weeks, the UPA will start employing young boys to fight the war, where its destruction traumatizes all of them.
- Cliffhanger: A botched Galician War ends with Stetsko's reputation down the drain and resistance movements rising up against his dictatorship. Meanwhile, Pozychanyuk is confirmed to have escaped capture and Lebed instantly suspects that someone in the government helped him. Stetsko's next plan is to wait for things to calm down and order Lebed to investigate potential Shukhevych sympathizers, but it's yet to be revealed if this strategy will work.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Dozens of German executives eagerly listen to Stetsko's offer to let them move into Ukraine and exploit its natural resources, even when it would mean oppressing the indigenous population. All they care about is profit and numbers, not morality.
- Didn't See That Coming: If the Galician War lasts longer than three weeks, Stetsko will be taken aback by how strong the Polish defenses are, regretting that he is entrusting the war effort to his incompetent generals.
- Empathic Environment:
- In the first days of his takeover, Stetsko walks back home as the last rays of light fade, a bad omen for the terrible things to come.
- The Galician War lasting longer than five weeks will play an event where UPA soldiers lie in a trench on a rainy morning, representing the general feeling of hopelessness and disillusion that the war can be won.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: A German settler, who supported the former Reichskommissariat, is prepared to continue resistance against the UPA because he has a family he needs to protect. Therefore, he feels some relief when Stetsko's men accommodate German settlers like him.
- Face Death with Dignity: Sick of the Galician War if it lasts for five weeks, a UPA soldier sees a mortar headed straight towards his trench, but he merely closes his eyes and smiles, accepting his fate and hoping that he can wait in hell to get some payback on Stetsko.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Subverted. Under the German boot, the Ukrainians and Russians shared some solidarity throughout the oppression. Unfortunately, this camaraderie disappears under Stetsko, as the Russians are now targeted by Ukrainian supremacists; any friendly Ukrainians are driven out or killed.
- Forced from Their Home: A Russian citizen is forced to flee his home while it's burning down in an anti-Russian pogrom, knowing that this is the last time he'll ever see this place.
- Heroic Sacrifice: As the UPA massacres their way through Lviv, a father hides his family in a crawl space where they used to hide weapons for the Home Army, while he brandishes a submachine gun and sacrifices himself against the invaders to distract them.
- Hope Spot: A father sees the UPA invade Lviv and hears them kick down his neighbor's door. Initially, he thinks that they'll just loot the homes and move on. Unfortunately, this hope is dashed when he hears a scream and gunfire, showing that the soldiers are out to kill, not pillage.
- Join or Die: Some surviving collaborators, who still have a printing press, are found by UPA soldiers, but they are coerced into serving Stetsko's regime in exchange for keeping their business. The alternative is an implied death threat. Naturally, the collaborators take the offer.
- The Mole: Discussed if the Galician War ends in defeat, where Lebed informs Stetsko that Pozychanyuk has escaped. Lebed knows that Pozychanyuk couldn't have escaped on his own and suspects that there is a Shukhevych loyalist infiltrating their government. Stetsko orders Lebed to investigate the matter, but warns him to not make hasty accusations because he doesn't want to alienate his few remaining allies.
- Pyrrhic Victory: If the Galician War is finished between three to six weeks, Stetsko will have achieved his original goals of conquering Galicia and reunifying Ukraine. However, so many losses were sustained that nobody feels triumphant in their victory. When Stetsko tries to deliver an inspiring speech about the sacrifices made, the audience gives a muted applause, unsettling Stetsko that his grip on Ukraine has loosened.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: The UPA's invasion of Lviv is a brutal one, where homes are destroyed and entire families are slaughtered, akin to the Nazis' own atrocities committed in Poland.
- Rousing Speech:
- Stetsko pushes an invasion of Galicia with a rousing speech, denouncing Poland as an oppressor against the Ukrainians living there and swearing to reunify Ukraine by seizing the region with force.
- Stetsko makes another triumphant speech if Galicia is conquered within three weeks, as the Vozhd congratulates all of his men for reunifying Ukraine and going as far as to threaten an invasion of Warsaw if Poland retaliates. As his men cheer on, Stetsko basks in the glory and ponders the "bright" future ahead for his regime.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Some UPA soldiers who participate in Stetsko's invasion are young men who lost their families to either the Nazi's oppression or the horrible living conditions they were forced under the Reichskommissariat. Thus, they easily fell into the UPA's vengeful rhetoric and became loyal soldiers to them.
