Commenting on the name of the Ukrainian army unit called “UPA heroes,” A. Sybiha said that the unit’s name was the choice of the soldiers. He also emphasized that they “did not have anything anti-Polish in mind.”
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“For them, it was about those who fought many years ago against imperial Moscow, Bolshevik-communist occupation and repression,” said A. Sybiha.
According to the ministry head, one should not “turn the wheel of hatred,” especially when Ukrainians, Poles, and other Europeans “are once again threatened by our primordial enemy – Russia.”
It must not be forgotten that fighting each other will lead to the edge of an abyss. It is necessary to realize this, reduce the level of emotions, leave our shared history to be considered by specialist historians, and focus on the most important thing: resistance to the common enemy, strengthening our European security, protecting the free future of our nations,” emphasized the Ukrainian minister.
Earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he had privately spoken with Kyiv about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to name one of the army units after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army UPA. He added that Poland hopes Ukraine will find “a way to correct this mistake.”
How the scandal arose
15min recalls that the former Polish ambassador to Ukraine returned a state award given to him by Volodymyr Zelensky. The diplomat protested against the Ukrainian president’s move, which in Poland is considered glorification of a World War II military group associated with ethnic cleansing of Poles.
Bartosz Cichocki announced on Monday that he returned the second-class Order “For Merit,” which he was awarded for strengthening bilateral relations shortly after the Russian invasion in 2022, reports “TVP World.”
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This step was taken amid growing diplomatic tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv after V. Zelensky issued a decree on May 26 granting the elite special operations unit “North” the name “UPA heroes.”
Poland threatened to revoke Zelensky’s White Eagle order
The UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army), which many Ukrainians respect as fighters for independence, is considered in Poland responsible for ethnic cleansing of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during the war, during which, according to Polish historians, up to 100,000 civilians died between 1943-1945.
V. Zelensky’s decision was widely condemned in Poland, and President Karol Nawrocki threatened to revoke the highest Polish award, the White Eagle order, which was presented to the Ukrainian head of state in 2023.
Ukraine considers UPA mainly an anti-Soviet, not anti-Polish organization
According to historians, between 1943 and 1945, Ukrainian nationalists killed 40–60 thousand Polish citizens in Volhynia, 20–40 thousand in Eastern Galicia, and at least 4 thousand in the current territory of Poland. According to the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, about 10–12 thousand Ukrainians were killed during Polish retaliatory operations until the spring of 1945.
The Polish-Ukrainian dispute over the historical role of the UPA has weighed on relations between the two countries for many years. While Poland holds it responsible for mass killings of its citizens, Ukraine claims that these events were part of a broader conflict for which both sides are responsible.
Ukraine also considers the UPA mainly an anti-Soviet, not anti-Polish organization.
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