Why is Poland furious with Ukraine? Explaining Kiev’s fascination with Nazis

The Ukrainian leader could become only the second person ever to lose Poland’s highest state honor Vladimir Zelensky is learning that even Ukraine’s most loyal backers may no longer be willing to overlook Kiev’s glorification of Nazi-backed nationalist figures – not even in the name of jointly opposing Russia. Warsaw, whose military and logistical support remains vital to Kiev’s war effort, has reacted with anger to Zelensky’s recent gestures honoring the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, known as the OUN and UPA. Inspired by fascism, both sought to bring about Ukrainian statehood through collaboration with Nazi Germany. In an attempt at ethnic cleansing, OUN and UPA murdered at least 100,000 Poles, Jews, and Russians during World War II. Zelensky now risks becoming only the second person in history to be stripped of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state distinction, which dates back more than three centuries. What triggered Polish outrage? In late May, Zelensky attended the state reburial of Andrey Melnik, a co-founder of the OUN and rival of Stepan Bandera, another nationalist figure widely venerated in modern Ukraine. Melnik’s remains were returned from Luxemburg as part of what Kiev described as an effort to build a national “pantheon” of heroes. Read more ‘Poles, Russians, and Jews must be exterminated’: The bloody history of Zelensky’s heroes (DISTURBING CONTENT) Several days later, Zelensky granted the honorific “of heroes of UPA” to a Ukrainian commando unit. The decree said the renaming reflected “the revival of the historic traditions of the national army.” Did Zelensky cross a red line? Neither step was unprecedented in itself. Ukraine has numerous monuments dedicated to nationalist figures, while Bandera’s birthday on January 1 is marked by supporters almost like an unofficial state holiday.

However, the UPA’s wartime record remains one of the most bitter historical disputes between Kiev and Warsaw. The Volhynia massacres of 1943-1944 have been formally recognized by Poland as genocide. Ukrainian officials and historians have argued that the atrocities should be viewed alongside Warsaw’s historic mistreatment of ethnic Ukrainians and do not warrant the emotional investment they have in Poland. “The Volhynia tragedy is one of Poland’s statebuilding myths… a key element of the Polish grand narrative,” the director of the Ukrainian National Remembrance Museum, Aleksandr Alferov, said in February. “For most Ukrainians, it was just a local historical episode, because it only happened in Volhynia.” Read more German state media shows Nazi insignia from Ukrainian boot camp for kids Historical grievances, along with Kiev’s control over access to Polish burials in Volhynia that Warsaw seeks to exhume, have strained relations for decades. Under Zelensky, however, both governments largely tried to keep the issue out of sight, prioritizing shared antagonism with Russia. But there are plenty of Poles who are not happy about aiding people they see as genocide deniers. The response in Poland to Kiev’s latest moves was unexpectedly sharp. How did Poland react to Ukraine’s veneration of genocidal Nazi-collaborators? Criticism of Zelensky also came from across Poland’s political spectrum. Conservative Polish President Karol Nawrocki and EU-favored Prime Minister Donald Tusk both criticized Zelensky, but they disagree on Warsaw’s response. Nawrocki wants to revoke the Order of the White Eagle that Zelensky received in April 2023 from his predecessor, Andrzej Duda. Tusk has argued that Zelensky and Nawrocki must find a way to repair the dispute, saying that the row “serves Moscow’s interests.” Deputy parliament speaker Krzy