Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his government plans to open the archives of Ukrainian security agencies related to the tragic events in Volhynia. He made the announcement after a meeting devoted to Ukraine’s relations with Poland.
Zelensky said Kyiv is also preparing “decisions on the diplomatic track.” He separately announced that materials held by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine concerning the events in Volhynia in the twentieth century would be made public.
“Secondly: all archives of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine concerning the tragic events of the twentieth century in Volhynia will be opened,” Zelensky said.
He added that the authorities also plan to issue additional permits for search and exhumation work.
The deterioration in relations between Kyiv and Warsaw followed a decree Zelensky signed in late May granting the honorary title “Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)” to the North special operations center of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces.
Poland sharply criticized that decision because of the role played by UPA fighters in the Volhynia massacre of 1943–1944. By various estimates, 30,000 to 60,000 Poles and 20,000 to 30,000 Ukrainians were killed. Since 2016, Poland has officially recognized those events as genocide.
According to Meduza, amid the dispute Poland stripped Zelensky of its highest state decoration, the Order of the White Eagle. After that, some other Ukrainian politicians also began refusing Polish orders.