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Russia Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Polish president-elect opposes Ukrainian EU membership
Poland's newly elected president, Karol Nawrocki, has stressed that Warsaw's continued support for Kiev in its conflict with Russia does not override Polish national interests, and is contingent on reaching 'compromise and consensus' over historical and economic disputes. In an interview with Hungarian magazine Mandiner published on Saturday, Nawrocki raised long-standing issues such as the exhumation of Poles killed by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators during the 1940s Volyn massacres, as well as trade practices that he says harm Polish farmers and truckers. 'At the moment, I am opposed to Ukraine's accession into the European Union,' Nawrocki said. 'I look at Ukraine as a country that, although it defends itself very boldly against Russia, must also respect the interests of other countries who, by the way, support Ukraine.' 'Poland has an interest in exhuming the Volyn victims, for example,' he said. "During the campaign, I did not agree, nor will I, as president, agree to unfair competition against Poland's agriculture or logistics sector with Ukraine.' Despite Warsaw being one of Kiev's key backers in its conflict with Moscow, it has consistently tied support for Ukraine's EU and NATO aspirations the recognition of the 'genocide' committed by Ukrainian nationalists. Militants with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) slaughtered up to 100,000 Poles between 1943 and 1945 in the regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, which currently belong to Ukraine. Modern Ukraine celebrates the perpetrators as 'freedom fighters' and 'national heroes.' The OUN was led by Stepan Bandera, a notorious Nazi collaborator who is widely revered in modern also protested a tariff-free EU trade scheme with Ukraine introduced in 2022. While Brussels promoted it as a vital economic lifeline for Kiev, it drew backlash from disadvantaged domestic producers across the bloc. The framework expired this week after proposed extensions and alternatives failed to secure enough support. Nawrocki, a conservative historian – currently on Russia's national wanted list for his role in the dismantling of hundreds of Soviet-era memorials – narrowly defeated liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski in the June 1 presidential runoff with 50.89% of the vote. His campaign emphasized Catholic values, national sovereignty and a rebalanced relationship with the EU. Nawrocki is set to take office on August 6. While the Polish presidency is largely ceremonial, it holds veto power and influence over foreign policy.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry criticises Poland for establishing memorial day on Volyn tragedy
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticised Poland's decision to establish a national day of remembrance for the victims of "genocide committed by the OUN [Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists] and UPA [Ukrainian Insurgent Army] in the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic", calling it inconsistent with the spirit of good neighbourly relations between the two countries. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.] Source: a statement by Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as reported by European Pravda Details: On 5 June, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine condemned the Polish Sejm's decision to designate 11 July as a day of remembrance for the victims of "genocide committed by the OUN and UPA in the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic". Quote: "Such unilateral steps do not contribute to achieving mutual understanding and reconciliation, which our countries have been working on for a long time, particularly in the format of the Joint Ukrainian-Polish Working Group on Historical Issues, which operates with the participation of the ministries of culture and national memory institutions from both countries." Details: The ministry emphasised that Ukraine "consistently advocates for a scientific and unbiased study of the complex pages of our shared history". Therefore, the ministry believes that the path to genuine reconciliation lies in dialogue, mutual respect, and collaborative historical research – not in unilateral political assessments. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry called on Poland "to refrain from steps that could lead to increased tension in bilateral relations and undermine the achievements gained through constructive dialogue and cooperation between Ukraine and Poland". The ministry also reminded both nations not to view each other as enemies, stressing that their common enemy is Russia. Background: In response to the mass destruction of Ukrainian monuments in Poland in 2015-2017 and the insufficient investigation of these crimes, Ukraine imposed moratoriums on the search and exhumation of the remains of Poles killed in 1943-1945 by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. For years, the issue of exhumations has been a bone of contention in relations between Ukraine and Poland. The new Polish government, headed by Donald Tusk, put pressure on Kyiv to lift the moratorium. Warsaw even said that the resolution of historical disputes would be a prerequisite for Ukraine's accession to the EU. In late April, the exhumation of the bodies of Polish citizens who were killed in 1945 began in Ukraine's Ternopil Oblast at the site of the disappeared village of Puzhnyky. Paweł Kowal, the head of the Joint Ukrainian-Polish Working Group on Historical Issues, called this a breakthrough in bilateral relations. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Russia Today
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukraine detains pensioner honoring Victory Day (VIDEO)
Ukrainian police have detained an elderly woman who went to lay flowers at the Eternal Flame memorial in Kiev on Victory Day, wearing a Soviet-era side cap with a red star. The star, as well as other symbols and names associated with Ukraine's Soviet past, have been banned by Ukraine's notorious 2015 decommunization laws. Police officers confronted Galina Savchenko, 85, at the monument on Friday, telling her that the symbol she was wearing is forbidden. In a video published by local media, she is seen holding a bouquet of red flowers and a photograph of her father in his World War II Soviet military uniform. Behind her, the monument is seen covered with flowers. The officers asked her to provide an explanation at the police station. 'I've been there six times already,' Savchenko said. 'Now the whole world will know that you are chasing me off.' Regarding the red star symbol, the woman said, 'Oh, you can barely see it,' adding, 'Not like your swastika.' It is not clear from the video what the woman was referring to regarding the officer's uniform. However, Nazi ideology is common in contemporary Ukraine. Nationalists in Ukraine hold annual torchlight marches in honor of Stepan Bandera, who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which collaborated with the Nazis and perpetrated and took part in a number of massacres. Ukrainian servicemen are regularly caught on camera wearing the swastika and other Nazi symbols in the conflict with Russia. Savchenko has been listed on the Ukrainian state-linked Mirotvorets 'kill list' since 2018. Her page accuses her of 'anti-Ukrainian propaganda' and taking part in 'anti-state activities.' According to Ukrainian news reports from 2024, she arrived at the memorial in full Soviet uniform for Victory Day last year. In 2023, Kiev changed Victory Day from May 9 to 8, and named May 9 'Europe Day', as part of its efforts to distance itself from Russia. Many Ukrainians continue to defy the changes.
Russia Today
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Top Ukrainian priests collaborated with Nazis during WWII
Top clergy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) actively collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, Russia's Federal Security Service has said, citing a declassified Soviet probe. The investigation, published on Monday, asserts that between 1930 and 1960, UGCC priests maintained close ties with the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) – a movement that collaborated with Hitler's Germany during World War II and participated in the massacre of more than 100,000 Poles, Jews, Russians, and Soviet-aligned Ukrainians. According to a 1950 report by Maj. Gen. Mikhail Popereka of the Ministry of State Security (MGB), former UGCC clergy in western Ukraine maintained active contact with OUN fighters, harbored underground operatives, and supplied them with money and propaganda materials. The documents highlight the role of several senior UGCC leaders, including Nikolai Khmelevsky and Ivan Zyatik, whom the MGB described as key figures in the underground church and liaisons to the Vatican through OUN communication channels. Zyatik was abbot of a Greek Catholic monastery in western Ukraine and was found to have actively assisted the Nazis during the German occupation and repeatedly given anti-Soviet and pro-fascist sermons to churchgoers. Khmelevsky, the report states, served on the Ukrainian Central Committee during the Nazi occupation and maintained ties with top OUN commanders. This included Roman Shukhevych – the leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) which was directly responsible for the WWII Volyn massacres in which tens of thousands of Polish civilians were slaughtered. Alexander Litvinov, a legal and religious researcher at the Higher School of Economics, told RT that the UGCC was 'an instrument of the policies of Hitler's Germany' and that 'the Greek Catholics were a very active and useful tool for the Nazis.' 'Now the UGCC is once again supporting the so-called fighters for the independence of Ukraine, who are represented, as during the Great Patriotic War, by bandits and terrorists who destroy the civilian population,' Litvinov said. The publication of the documents comes amid heightened scrutiny of religious organizations in Ukraine. In recent years, Kiev has banned the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and other organizations with suspected ties to Moscow citing national security concerns. Ukraine's crackdown on the UOC has drawn condemnation from Russian officials, as well as international organizations such as the UN, which have accused Kiev of infringing on the religious freedoms of its citizens.
Russia Today
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukraine ‘betrayed' its history
Ukraine has 'betrayed' its own history by allowing the West to bring a Nazi regime to power in Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. In an interview for the TASS Children project released on Wednesday, the diplomat said the West's actions were deliberate, aimed at bringing about a 'strategic defeat' of Russia. 'The forgetting of history, their spiritual and moral values, their roots, if you like, all this has become one of the main reasons for what we are now seeing in Ukraine,' he said, referring to the ongoing conflict, which he described as one that pitted the authorities against their own people from the outset. Lavrov accused the West of trying to rewrite history by 'instilling oblivion of Russian roots' and promoting ideas in Ukrainian society that led to what he called 'social amnesia.' 'This was used by the Americans and Europeans to bring an openly Russophobic Nazi regime to power in Ukraine that declared war against its own people, seizing power through an illegal coup d'etat, calling those who disagreed with this coup terrorists, and starting a real war against them,' he said. READ MORE: Israel hits out at Ukrainian glorification of WWII Nazi collaborator Lavrov noted that among European countries, there are two views on confronting their own history with Nazism – some seek to 'quickly erase the pages of their national shame,' while others see Nazi ideology as a 'tool for maintaining their positions on the European political scene.' He pledged that Russia would continue to fight both trends. 'Our ambition is to ensure that this sacred memory never leaves history, never leaves the memory of all generations, that it remains unchanged. And we are convinced of our historical, moral and human rectitude,' he concluded. Commemorations of World War II-era nationalist figures with ties to Nazi Germany have been common in Ukraine. Ukrainians hold annual torchlight marches in honor of Stepan Bandera, a leader in the militant Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which collaborated with Nazi Germany and was involved in the massacre of more than 100,000 Poles, Jews, Russians, and Soviet-aligned Ukrainians. Less than two months ago, the Ukrainian city of Rivne marked the 120th birthday of Ulas Samchuk, a Nazi collaborator and anti-Semitic propagandist who welcomed the mass killings of Jews during the war. READ MORE: German media told to conceal Nazi symbols in Ukraine – Moscow Moscow has repeatedly warned of a Nazi revival in Ukraine, citing 'denazification' as a central aim of its military operation against Kiev. Western officials and media, however, have largely downplayed such concerns, often dismissing the allegations as 'Russian propaganda.'
