Guardian: Ukrainians complain of humiliating treatment in Poland

The Guardian has published an article about the cooling of relations between Warsaw and Kyiv, in which Ukrainians describe the humiliations they face in Poland — both at border crossings and in everyday life.

“Every time I enter Poland, I literally shake with rage because of the way they look at us, the way they treat us,” Olga, a graphic designer from Kyiv, told the outlet.

Particular indignation is directed at treatment at Polish border crossings — one of the few ways to leave Ukraine since air travel was suspended in 2022. The Guardian points to the rudeness of border guards and extremely poor infrastructure: people, including the elderly and young children, are forced to stand outside for hours — in heat, rain, or snow.

The outlet also notes that many Polish politicians harbor hostility toward the more than one million Ukrainians living in Poland. Among Ukrainians themselves, the newspaper observes, there is a growing sense that Poles look down on them.

Against this backdrop, The Guardian records a new escalation of tensions between the two countries. In late May, Volodymyr Zelensky gave a unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces the name of “heroes of the UPA.” In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the country’s highest state honor — the Order of the White Eagle. Zelensky, in turn, declined to participate in an international conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction in Gdansk and announced the creation of a “pantheon of Ukrainian heroes.”