Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has antagonized ally Poland by naming a military unit after the ‘Heroes of the UPA’. This is a nationalist movement from the Second World War that, according to Poland, was partly responsible for the deaths of 100,000 Polish citizens.
Journalist at HLN
Source: BELGA
Earlier this week, Zelensky renamed the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces of the North Operation Center the ‘Heroes of the UPA’ (‘Ukrainska Povstanska Armiia’).
The UPA was the military branch of a Ukrainian movement that fought for an independent Ukraine during and after World War II. Between 1943 and 1945, the organization conducted a major ethnic cleansing campaign in Volynia, a former Polish region that is today located in western Ukraine. At least 100,000 Poles are said to have been murdered. Reprisals also took place, killing 10,000 Ukrainians.
The issue is very sensitive. Poland has been calling on Ukraine for years to take responsibility for the massacre. The fact that Zelensky is now naming troops after the UPA is definitely not well received.
“Disturbing”
Polish President Karol Nawrocki reacted angrily to the news and wants to revoke the Polish honorary title given to Zelensky, the so-called ‘Order of the White Eagle’.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also calls the appointment disturbing. “This damages historical sensibility and unnecessarily reduces historical events to a rather disturbing level,” he said.
To add more salt to the wound, Ukraine has also launched a project to build a temple of national heroes, including historical figures of the UPA. As part of that honor, Kiev repatriated and reburied the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) earlier this week. The OUN fought with the German SS units during the Second World War and was also active in the deportations and murders of Jews and Polish civilians in Volynia.