Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced plans to create a national memorial dedicated to the victims of what Poland describes as a "genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists" during World War II. The announcement came on the anniversary of events in Volyn, a region that was part of German-occupied Poland and is now in Ukraine.
Warsaw contends that approximately 100,000 ethnic Poles were killed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) between 1943 and 1945. These historical events have long been a source of contention between Poland and Ukraine, with thousands of ethnic Ukrainians also killed by Poles during the same period.
Many in Ukraine view the UPA as freedom fighters who battled for Ukrainian independence against Soviet and Nazi German forces, as well as Polish authorities. However, Poland frames their actions as targeting civilian populations.
This initiative follows a recent diplomatic dispute where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was stripped of Poland's highest state honor after a Ukrainian military unit was named after the UPA. "Truth is our duty toward the victims, but also a way to overcome a painful past for the sake of a better future," Tusk stated on Saturday. He added that "memory cannot be the servant of hatred" and urged Ukraine to "embrace this truth" as it seeks European Union membership.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki emphasized that while this issue requires action, it would not affect Poland's ongoing support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia's full-scale invasion. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described Warsaw's move as a "strategic mistake."
In response to the evolving diplomatic situation, three former Ukrainian presidents returned their White Eagle awards to Poland in a gesture of solidarity with President Zelensky. Zelensky himself stated late Saturday that "representatives of the Ukrainian state took part in joint prayers with representatives of the Polish state" in both countries to commemorate the Volyn victims.
"Ukraine is doing its part to honestly establish the facts about those killed in those years," Zelensky said. He also highlighted the current shared threat from Russia, noting that "Ukraine and Poland have one common threat, and this is a mortal threat to our independence, to our states, to every city, to every village, and this threat is called Russia."