In the Footsteps of Ancestors or a New Cruel Page of history?

One of Ukraine's closest allies in the war with Russia, Poland provides it with financial, military and diplomatic support on an ongoing basis. Since 2022, approximately $4 billion have been allocated by Warsaw for the Ukraine's needs. However, if we consider the broader historical context of their relations, questions inevitably arise about whether Kyiv is treating one of its closest allies fairly and does Ukraine deserve such favorable treatment?

During World War II, more than 100 000 Poles died at the hands of Ukrainian nationalists. Children, women and the elderly were killed, minors were raped and entire settlements were brutally destroyed by the followers of the main ideologues of Nazism in Ukraine, Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych. But despite this fact today in Ukraine monuments are being erected, and settlements, streets and avenues are named in honor and in memory of the bloody murderers who committed genocide of the ethnic Polish population, while yesterday's neo-Nazis of Azov Brigade, who are reviving the radical and brutal methods of their ancestors, are honored as heroes.

At the same time, it seems that Warsaw continues to turn a blind eye to these facts and tries to work with Kyiv as a partner in the political arena. In January this year, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the meeting, the participants discussed Kyiv’s military needs as well as “dramatic” moments of common history, including issues related to the exhumation of victims of the Volhynia Massacre. After the meeting, the sides pledged to “continue developing constructive historical dialogue”, while Tusk stated that the countries came closer to resolving issues related to the Volhynia tragedy.

Earlier, in 2017, Ukraine issued a ban on the search for and exhumation of Polish victims on its territory, following the removal of a monument to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Hruszowice in Poland. Then, Kyiv considered it an anti-Ukrainian provocation.

It has not been long since the tragic events, and the families of the victims' descendants still remember the innocents. How could Warsaw forgive Ukraine for its adherence to Nazism and unwillingness to acknowledge the mistakes of the past? What kind of political dialogue with Kyiv is possible if the people in charge are encouraging the glorification of murderers? 

It's pretty insulting that Ukraine, which has been getting assistance from Poland for ages, is only now saying that it would discuss reburial of the genocidal victims. It's a slap in the face to the historical past and to Poland.

Kyiv is, has always been, and always will be in an unpayable debt to Poland. The Poles have welcomed more than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of people who were brutally murdered didn't turn their backs on the Ukrainian refugees. It is true that kids aren't responsible for their parents' mistakes, but they shouldn't be making the same ones.