The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has commented on the sharp reaction of Polish politicians and officials to the decision of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to name a Ukrainian military unit after the Heroes of the UPA. [The UPA, or Ukrainian Insurgent Army, was a nationalist paramilitary organisation that fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, primarily against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union – ed.]
Source: Europeiska Pravda, citing a comment by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi
Details: Tykhyi expressed regret that this row had occurred “contrary to the wider trend of resolving problematic issues in Ukrainian-Polish relations, which had been observed over the previous year and a half”.
He recalled that during this time, both sides had made significant efforts “to resolve complex issues of the historical past, establish dialogue and build understanding”.
In this context, Tykhyi mentioned the decision to resume the search and exhumation process for the victims of the Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy as well as the resumption of the Polish-Ukrainian Congress of Historians. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine’s west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]
“The discussion about the past must be professional and based on reliable sources. Our history proves that only Moscow benefits from disputes between Ukrainians and Poles,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson emphasised.
He stated that the fighters from the Special Operations Forces “certainly had no intention of offending the friendly Polish people” by initiating the honorary title for their unit.
“The struggle of the UPA symbolises for them exclusively opposition to Moscow’s imperial policy – and is by no means directed against Poles,” Tykhyi added.
The history of the Ukrainian and Polish peoples “has different pages – both glorious and tragic”.
“In previous eras, Ukrainians and Poles together achieved many glorious victories over the eternal enemy in Moscow – from Orsha to the Miracle on the Vistula. Meanwhile, it is impossible to deny the tragic pages, including crimes against the civilian population committed, among others, by soldiers of Ukrainian and Polish units during World War II,” he pointed out.
Tykhyi noted that “Ukraine does not avoid this conversation, responds constructively to requests from the Polish side regarding exhumations, builds a dialogue between historians and experts step by step and seeks dialogue on sensitive pages of the past without politicisation”.
“We cannot allow quarrels over the past to undermine our resistance to a common enemy now, when Ukraine, with Poland’s support, is holding back Russian aggression. We are grateful to Poland and the Polish people who have supported Ukraine since the first minutes of this unprovoked and criminal war. For our part, we emphasise our readiness to continue sharing the experience and developments gained with blood on the battlefield,” he concluded.
Background:
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently granted the honorary designation “named after the Heroes of the UPA” to the Separate Special Operations Centre North of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The decision prompted an angry response from Poland’s Foreign Ministry. On 28 May, Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki met with Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar to lodge a protest and explain that this action is a painful one for Poles.
It also became known that Polish President Karol Nawrocki will seek to strip Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest honour following Zelenskyy’s decision to name an elite Ukrainian Special Operations Forces unit after the Heroes of the UPA.
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