Poland attacks Lviv move to honor World War II-era Ukrainian nationalists

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday sharply criticized a decision by authorities in Ukraine’s western Lviv region to designate 2027 as a year honoring the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and its wartime commander Roman Shukhevych.

“This is stupid. It harms Ukraine,” Tusk told reporters, according to Polish media.

“For us, of course, it is always very irritating. In Poland, we do not understand this type of action, especially because it is primarily contrary to Ukraine’s interests,” he said.

Tusk said he had previously discussed such historical issues with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and warned that gestures of this kind make it harder for countries and politicians seeking close cooperation with Kyiv to defend that position.

“In such situations, the Russians always rub their hands,” he said.

Tusk also warned that the decision could provide ammunition to opponents of Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union.

“If opponents of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union are looking for a pretext, then precisely such a pretext has now been constructed by the councillors of the Lviv region,” he said.

The Lviv Regional Council voted on Tuesday to declare 2027 the Year of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the Year of Roman Shukhevych and the Year of Ukrainian nationalist activist and writer Oleh Olzhych.

“This is our history, our heroes, and we must properly honor their memory,” Sviatoslav Sheremeta, head of the council’s culture and information policy committee, said when announcing the decision.

The commemoration touches on one of the most painful disputes between Poland and Ukraine. Ukrainian nationalist forces, including the UPA, killed tens of thousands of Polish civilians in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during World War II. Poland recognizes the massacres as genocide.

Many Ukrainians, however, commemorate the UPA for its anti-Nazi and anti-Soviet resistance. Shukhevych, who commanded the force from 1943 until his death in 1950, is celebrated by supporters as a symbol of that struggle.

Those competing historical memories have repeatedly strained relations between Warsaw and Kyiv, despite Poland’s support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.