Zelensky ignites fury by honouring Ukrainian WWII fighters who massacred Poles and Jews

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) attends the reburial ceremony of Andriy Melnyk, who died in 1964 and was the leader of a branch of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), along with his wife Sofia, at the National Military Memorial Cemetery near Kyiv on May 25, 2026. © Genya Savilov, AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to name a military unit after a World War II-era militia infamous for massacring Poles and Jews has led to a sharp spike in tensions between Kyiv and Warsaw.

Some things are better off staying buried. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a presidential decree on May 26 bestowing the honourary title of “Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army”, or UPA, on an elite unit of the nation’s special forces.