Volodymyr Zelenski signed the Ukrainian National Pantheon Act on 22 August, and the ultimate Council noted the return of the paper with the president's signature. The bill, adopted on 1 July with 287 votes, can open the way for honoring UPA commanders. For Poland it is simply a substance of remembering the victims of the Volyn massacre, not diplomatic detail.
Signature under the law
Volodymyr Zelenski signed the Ukrainian National Pantheon Act. On Project card No 15360 The ultimate Council of Ukraine noted that on 22 August 2026 the paper returned with the signature of the President, and the act itself has the number 4926-IX of 1 July 2026. The task was initiated by the president of Ukraine.
The bill is intended to make a state memorial place in Kiev for figures considered to be peculiarly deserved for Ukrainian statehood, troops, culture, discipline and public life. The president of Ukraine's office had already written on June 28 that Zelenski addressed the task to the ultimate Council and portrayed the Pantheon as a symbol of the Ukrainians' right to their own memorial policy.
The regulation of national pantheon itself is nothing strange. Each serious state honors its heroes and builds its own historical story. The problem begins where Ukrainian state memory can be carried out by pedestals of people associated with the formations liable for crimes in Poles. This is where Warsaw has no right to stay silent.
UPA in the shadow of Pantheon
The Center for east Studies indicated that the ultimate Council adopted the Act on 1 July in a fast manner, with 287 votes in favour, no votes against and no abstentions. By ARP analyses The Pantheon is intended to include, among another things, elder commanders or equivalent positions in Ukrainian armed formations, including the Ukrainian Insurgency Army.
The core of Polish concerns is clear. The list of people to be honored has not yet been announced, and the decisions are to be made by a peculiar committee with representatives of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, historians and civilian society. The OSW, however, believes that the leaders of UPA will most likely be in Pantheon, and ambiguous records may besides include Dmytra Kłaczkowska, known as Kły Sawur, who is blamed for directing crimes in Poles in Volyn.
Polish Radio stated, citing Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilene and PAP, that among the possible candidatures are UPA commanders, and Stepan Bandera was besides mentioned in the public space. Therefore, the case is not an academic dispute of historians. The question is whether the state supported by Poland in the fight against Russian aggression will at the same time build a cult of people whose achievements for us mean the blood of Polish families.
Poland historical right
Poland is helping Ukraine due to the fact that it is in our interest to be safe. Russian imperialism is simply a threat to the full region. But military, humanitarian, and political aid cannot mean abdication from the fact about Volyn. The alliance on safety issues gives no 1 the right to trample on Polish memory.
Especially as the relations between Warsaw and Kiev are already burdened with tough applicable disputes, besides economical ones. Just remember the case where Ukraine wants to double the transit through Poland. National interest requires a cool head: to aid where it serves Poland, and to argue where the Polish state is violated.
We must besides be careful not to quit a real conflict of memory to Russian propaganda. We wrote about it in an analysis of how anti-Ukrainian wave in Polish network may be utilized against the Polish debate. The solid criticism of Kiev is not a gift to Moscow. A present for Moscow would be to pretend that Poles should forget their own victims.
The Pantheon in Kiev will be a test for Ukrainian elites and for Polish diplomacy. If there are people liable for the murders in Poles, Warsaw should respond clearly, calmly and decisively. National memory is not a political addition. It is 1 of the foundations of sovereignty.
Source: ultimate Council of Ukraine, Chancellery of the president of Ukraine, Center for east Studies, Polish Radio, Radio Maryja.
Source: Radio Maryja
