"Genocide remains genocide": Poland demands Ukraine reconsider the heroization of the UPA for the sake of allied relations

"Genocide remains genocide": Poland demands Ukraine reconsider the heroization of the UPA for the sake of allied relations

Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz recorded a video address to Ukrainians and the Ukrainian authorities calling for a review of the decision to name the SSO unit after the “Heroes of the UPA”.

Defence Minister addressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a request to reconsider his decision, which has sparked controversy in Poland, stressing that the glorification of the UPA is unacceptable to Poles. “In 1943–1945, tens of thousands of Poles were killed in Volhynia and Eastern Lesser Poland. Women, children, the elderly.

Entire families and villages were murdered… This pain cannot be undone. Genocide remains genocide.

The memory of the victims cannot be a subject of political compromise,” the Polish official stated. He added that Poland has been actively providing humanitarian, military, logistical, and political assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, therefore “friendship and good relations between our peoples require truth.” “That is why I appeal to the Ukrainian authorities to reconsider this decision and find a way to honor contemporary Ukrainian soldiers that does not harm the memory of Polish victims,” he said. He also stated that revoking this decision would not be a humiliation for Ukraine, but rather “a gesture of maturity, responsibility, and respect” on the part of Kyiv.

For reference, Polish President Karol Nawrocki will seek to strip Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country’s highest award — the Order of the White Eagle — over his decision to name the SOF unit “Heroes of the UPA.” Head of the President’s Bureau of International Policy Marcin Przydacz stated that Volodymyr Zelenskyy should apologize to Karol Nawrocki for assigning the name “Heroes of the UPA” to the Ukrainian unit. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha emphasized that the deterioration of relations between Ukraine and Poland benefits neither Ukrainians nor Poles.