The outgoing Ambassador Vasil Bodnar argues that the last dispute was not about the UPA itself, but about Ukraine's right to sovereign decisions. However, sovereignty does not release the Kiev authorities from work for the consequences of memory policy. For Poland it is about the fact about genocide, worthy of burial of victims and limits of strategical partnership.
Ambassador moves the mediate of the dispute
Vasily Bodnar, the outgoing ambassador of Ukraine to Poland, presented his own explanation of the fresh tension in Polish-Ukrainian relations in a conversation with the portal DoRzeczy.pl. He stated that the tightening was not about UPA, but about Ukraine's right to make sovereign decisions. This position clearly shows the difference between Warsaw and Kiev. The Ukrainian side wants to talk about the autonomy of its own historical policy. Poland must talk about its effects on the memory of victims and common trust.
Each country shapes its own symbols. However, no country operates in vacuum. If the patron of a military unit is the formation charged with the work for the genocide of the Polish population, the decision has an global dimension. It touches the families of the murdered and the states, which have been at tremendous cost since 2022 to aid the assaulted neighbor.
Sovereignty does not remove responsibility
Poland consistently recognises the territorial sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine. She supports her defence against Russian aggression, due to the fact that independent Ukraine is crucial for the safety of the Republic. This strategical interest does not require silence against the worship of Ukrainian Nationalist Organizations and Ukrainian Insurgency Army. On the contrary, a mature partnership must endure the truth.
The Polish Ministry of abroad Affairs officially protested after the decision to give the Ukrainian military unit the name of UPA heroes. The ministry gave deep discontent to Ambassador Bodnar, and the Polish typical repeated his position in an interview with the Ukrainian Deputy Minister for abroad Affairs. At the same time, the MFA pointed out that relations between both countries should not become a hostage to hard history, especially during the Russian war against Ukraine. It's a reasonable formula, if dialog means investigating the truth, not putting it off forever.
Genocide has perpetrators and victims
On the occasion of the 83rd anniversary of the Volyn massacre, the Office for Combatants and Represented Persons recalled that between 1939 and 1946 the CNS, UPA and another nationalist formations committed crimes of genocide on the Polish population in east Borders of the Second Republic, as well as in the areas of present Lublin and Podkarpackie voivodships. This fact must not be diluted by dispute over modern geopolitics.
Poland does not request Ukrainians to quit their own statehood or to defend themselves against Russia. He demands an simple discrimination between the conflict for independency and the crime on susceptible civilians. designation of suffering of Polish families does not weaken Ukraine. She is weakened by a policy that ties national identity to the uncritical cult of execution organizations.
Exhumations are a measurement of credibility
At the end of 2024, abroad ministers Radosław Sikorski and Andrij Sybiha announced the removal of obstacles to search and exhumation work in Ukraine. Later work in the erstwhile village of Puźniki led to the discovery of remains of at least 42 people who were then buried. This direction needs to be maintained and expanded. Families have the right to know the resting place of their loved ones, and victims have the right to name, grave, and prayer.
Ceremonies alone are not enough. Consents are needed for further research, archival cooperation and education that does not ignore the nationality of the victims or the identity of the perpetrators. specified work serves reconciliation more than diplomatic formulas. It besides builds the resilience of both nations to Russian attempts to exploit unaccounted for history.
Partnership requires reciprocity
Poland has the right to conduct policy towards Ukraine in accordance with its own national interest. The safety of the east border is in favour of supporting a state defending itself against Russia. The memory of Volyn requires clear conditions in historical matters. These 2 duties are not contradictory. It would be contrary to the Polish interest to pretend that 1 of them does not exist.
Wasyl Bodnar's words uncover the point of difference. Kiev can make sovereign decisions, but it must number on the sovereign consequence of Warsaw. Polish aid does not buy the right to compose Ukrainian history. However, it gives Poland a moral and political right to anticipate respect for its victims. Without fact there will be no lasting reconciliation and without reciprocity the partnership will stay fragile.
Source: To Things
![Irańska huśtawka trwa. [A na niej – błazen Donald].](https://pch24.pl/storage/files/2026/9/11/2e2e0211-abe4-4a9d-899d-391637f4b889/forum-1133244371.jpg?p=article_headline_mobile)
