Ukraine sets a condition [that Poland must honour UPA members who died on Polish territory]. Another flare-up of Polish-Ukrainian relations

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1. DeepL Translation:

   The Polish side is to commemorate the soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) who were killed on its territory, including in the Podkarpacie region, and in return Ukraine will agree to exhume and bury the victims of the Volhynian crime. When President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Poland was underway, the Ukrainian foreign minister revealed the planned solution to the historical dispute.

   “Our approach is that we also demand a dignified commemoration of Ukrainian memory on Polish territory. Now let’s wait for the decisions of the Polish side,” said the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Andriy Sybiha, in an interview with the European Pravda portal.

   He added that Ukrainian and Polish experts have provided each other with lists of memorial sites that both sides are interested in commemorating. “The restoration of the Ukrainian monument on Mount Monastyr is also on the agenda,” the Ukrainian minister said. To clarify, there is a plaque in Monasterz (Podkarpackie Voivodeship) dedicated to UPA soldiers who died fighting NKVD units.

   The interview sparked controversy in Poland, as the transactional ‘something for something’ approach does not appeal to the relatives of the victims of the crime. The text appeared when Volodymyr Zelenski was visiting the Prime Minister and the President. A ‘breakthrough’ was expected in matters relating to history. As we reported, the theme of the exhumation of the Polish victims of the crime was not prominent in the politicians’ statements.

   Renovation of the UPA monument part of the agreement?

   “I knew that Sibiga would say something like that in Ukraine. It was wrong that the topic of the Volhynian crime was included in our campaign in the presidential elections. We focus on the negatives, when we started to demand too, well, the other side will demand too and this leads to nothing, to nothing good,” comments Jan Piekło, former Polish ambassador to Ukraine, for the WP. He revealed that Ukraine was already putting things this way in 2016-2019, when he worked in Kyiv.

   “Personally, I think that this is not the time for this kind of pushback, mounting all this into a presidential election. It is necessary to think about bringing the discussion on historical issues after the end of the war and after effective assistance to Ukraine, but not about who should exhume whom and how,” Pieklo goes on to say.

   The former diplomat notes that Zelensky’s statement that Karol Navrotsky should practice because he will have to fight became “part of the election package” during the visit. “The Ukrainian president allowed himself to be maneuvered into supporting one of the candidates,” Rafal Trzaskowski said. “Maybe this was supposed to be the success story of the current government?” the interviewee added.

   Ministry of Culture and National Heritage on cooperation with Ukraine

   The Ukrainian authorities have so far granted one permit for the exhumation of murdered Poles. On 13 January, the Freedom and Democracy Foundation announced that it would start exhumation work of the victims of the crime in Puzniki, Ukraine, in April this year. There are about 20 such requests pending from the Polish side, Andrzej Duda informed.

   In turn, Volodymyr Zelenski, asked by journalists about the Volhynia issue, replied: “We should go forward in our relations, look forward. Our ministries of culture are already working (on the exhumation issue – ed.). I am glad that they are developing materials and I see that we are moving forward all the time on all issues. We should move forward together.”

   The issue of Polish-Ukrainian talks on the commemoration of the victims was referred to by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

   “The parties exchanged information on the places where, from the point of view of each side, it would be appropriate to carry out search and exhumation work first, or to give them additional care. Thus, it was important for us to respond to the expectations of the public, in particular the relatives of those who were victims of wars and repressions,” stated the Ministry of Culture in a press release.

   “The parties are currently carrying out an analysis of the resulting list, as well as verifying the status of the implementation of the search requests and exhumation consent requests submitted so far,” officials added.

   In November 2024, Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Andriy Sibiha confirmed that there were no obstacles to search and exhumation work. However, later the head of the Ukrainian IPN, Anton Drowobycz, in a statement to a Ukrainian internet portal, made permission for the exhumation of Polish victims conditional on the repair of plaques commemorating members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) at the site of their grave in Monasterz in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship.

   The site has been controversial for years among representatives of patriotic and veteran circles. This is because a plaque was erected in the cemetery in 1990 to honour the fallen soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. They died in clashes with security forces in 1945-1947. In the 1990s, this monument became the subject of protests from the Polish side, which considers it a commemoration of the formation responsible for crimes against the Polish population. In 2023, some of the UPA tombstones were damaged.

   The Volhynian Massacre was a genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) against the Polish population living in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in the years 1943-1945. The action culminated in the so-called Bloody Sunday, when the largest wave of murders of Poles took place in about 100 villages in Volhynia. In total, around 100,000 Poles were killed.

2. Ukraine is once again failing to understand that they’re a glorified pawn being supported by NATO and its allies to strike Russia rather than the queen who needs to be protected no matter what the cost.

   While the Poles as a people may feel sympathetic to Ukraine, as a matter of state affairs Warsaw does not harbor genuine concern for Kyiv.

   They are supporting Ukraine because it’s a way to strike back against their #1 historical enemy and they don’t want a Russian puppet on their doorstep, but even if Ukraine were to fall 8 hours from now, nothing would fundamentally change for Poland as they’re still under the protective umbrella of NATO and the EU no matter what happens on the other side of their border.

   This is just a long list of incidents where Zelensky and his government are confusing being allies of convenience with genuine importance, ditto for them freaking the fuck out at most of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America for choosing to sit on the fence rather than take sides on a war in another continent that does not directly affect them.

   Ukraine should be doing everything it can to garner sympathy and goodwill as Trump is poised to take office and certain projections show that their European partners will be more important than ever.

   Demanding that Poland honor a group that committed crimes against their people is a misstep as it needlessly reduces goodwill from the Polish side while giving them nothing in return aside from nationalist headlines that will be moot if it causes Warsaw to pull away even if slightly.

3. > The Polish side is to commemorate the soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) who were killed on its territory, including in the Podkarpacie region, and in return Ukraine will agree to exhume and bury the victims of the Volhynian crime. When President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Poland was underway, the Ukrainian foreign minister revealed the planned solution to the historical dispute.

   Are they really this fucking stupid. How reliable is this newspaper?

4. Ukraine is playing the realpolitik game, they recognize that even though they’re the ones needing aid, they are also “helping” Russia’s rivals by weakening it without huge costs (and especially without human lives) from NATO countries. It is not entirely surprising to see them trying to make demands.

   That being said, IDK if that’s how Medias are trying to portray them, but they sound drunk on their own koolaid.

   Between this and those statements implying that Europe is more dependent on Ukraine than the opposite, they really sound entitled and delusional.

5. >In November 2024, Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Andriy Sibiha confirmed that there were no obstacles to search and exhumation work. However, later the head of the Ukrainian IPN, Anton Drowobycz, in a statement to a Ukrainian internet portal, made permission for the exhumation of Polish victims conditional on the repair of plaques commemorating members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) at the site of their grave in Monasterz in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship.

   >The site has been controversial for years among representatives of patriotic and veteran circles. This is because a plaque was erected in the cemetery in 1990 to honour the fallen soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. They died in clashes with security forces in 1945-1947. In the 1990s, this monument became the subject of protests from the Polish side, which considers it a commemoration of the formation responsible for crimes against the Polish population. In 2023, some of the UPA tombstones were damaged.

   Sounds like a negotiation to me. People in this chat may be forgetting that Ukraine are legitimate players in Europe now and with that, they curry some weight when they find themselves in negotiating terms. It’s crazy how people, especially Europeans, build Ukraine up as the last bastion from the wave of Uruk-hai from ~~Mordor~~ Russia, but when Ukraine want to collect their dues they get shut down. If the Poles don’t want to agree with the Ukrainian’s, then maybe the next government will be able to make said deal.

   Having said that, if I was a citizen of a country in which Poland unfortunately find themselves in, I would feel a sort of way too, about the situation. Yet that is what happens, when you build a country up to the point that they have a rightful seat at the negotiating table and not purely a roadblock that is getting foreign aid. I would assume the Polish government should work in tandem with what Ukraine wants, so they get what they want. I don’t see a problem with this.

6. Poland literally views the massacres in Poland by the UPA as genocide. This is a wild request.

   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacres_of_Poles_in_Volhynia_and_Eastern_Galicia

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