Miller: Zelenski's second provocation

If you consider president Zelenski's decision to give the military unit the name “UPA Heroes” as a conscious provocation, then send the Gen. Kyryla Budanov to Warsaw was her logical continuation.

Budanow belongs to the strict management of the Ukrainian state, which consistently rehabilitates the traditions of the CNS and UPA. Many times he publically praised UPA, and a fewer weeks ago, while attending the ceremony of the re-burial of Andrij Melnyk, he paid tribute to 1 of the leaders of the CNS, a collaborator of Nazi Germany. Budanov did not make any conciliation gesture. Instead, he gave a clear signal: “We are talking, but we are not going to quit the glories of our heroes.”

Such actions are reinforced by the deficiency of a strong consequence from the West and, above all, Poland. After the solemn introduction and state burial of Melnyk's remains, only Israel protested. Meanwhile, the statements of any Polish politicians in the kind of "we will not furniture Ukraine history" only encourage Kiev to further provocations.

The Zelenski Decision is no exception – it has been a regulation applied for years. Presidents Aleksander Kwasniewski, Bronisław Komorowski and Andrzej Duda marked the Order of the Eagle of the White Presidents of Ukraine: Viktor Yushchenka, Petra Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenski. All 3 have been actively active in the process of whitewashing UPA crimes, recognising its members as “heroes and combatants fighting for independence”, granting them privileges and rewarding their armed actions. For a long time there was a disturbing silence in Poland.

Against this background, the attitude of president Karol Nawrocki deserves respect. For the first time in many years we have the impression that the Polish state is actually guarding the memory of Ukrainian genocide in Volyn and east Galicia and demands historical fact without looking at political correctness.

The Ukrainian side frequently reiterates that UPA "fightd the Soviets first". However, the facts are different. According to available data, about 8340 soldiers and russian officers were killed at UPA's hands. At the same time, Ukrainian nationalists murdered about 100–150 1000 defenceless Polish civilians – including tens of thousands of women, children and old people.

When individual claims that UPA ‘hero fought the Soviets’, it is worth asking a simple question: why more than 10 times more Polish people died than russian soldiers and officers? This imbalance best shows the actual nature of UPA's actions and its criminal nature.

Leszek Miller

Photo by president of Poland (X)

Za: X