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As ties sour, Poland to build new memorial for victims of WWII massacres by Ukrainians

58 0
11.07.2026

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Saturday announced the creation of a new monument to civilian victims of what he called a “genocide” by “Ukrainian nationalists” in World War II.

Warsaw and Kyiv have been at loggerheads for decades over the massacre of civilians on both sides during World War II, souring relations.

But the dispute has taken on more significance given Poland’s support for its neighbor as Ukraine fights off an invasion by Russia.

“A Wall of Remembrance will be erected in Warsaw, with an eternal flame and the names of every victim who has been found and identified,” Tusk said in a video on social media.

“The republic will not forget any of them.”

Tusk’s announcement came on the eve of the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in 1943, when units from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) killed thousands of Poles in Volhynia, now in northwest Ukraine.

According to Poland, between 70,000 and 100,000 civilians were killed between 1943 and 1945, while reprisals are thought to have claimed the lives of up to 12,000 Ukrainians.

The UPA and the OUN are seen in Ukraine as groups that fought for independence against the Red Army and the Soviet Union.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky caused outrage in Poland in May by announcing that he was naming a military unit after........

© The Times of Israel