Poland puts forward three demands to Ukraine over the Volhynia massacre

Polish Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has outlined three conditions for normalizing Polish-Ukrainian relations on the historical issue: truth, memory, and apology.

According to the minister, truth must be acknowledged by Ukraine, memory is a shared obligation of both sides, and an apology is the foundation for future good-neighborly relations.

The Polish side has recognized the peak of the killings in 1943–1945, known as the Volhynia massacre, as genocide. Poland places responsibility for it on Ukrainian nationalists from the OUN-UPA.

Tensions around the issue intensified in 2026, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took part in the reburial of the remains of one of the OUN-UPA leaders and also gave one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units the name “Named after the heroes of the UPA.”

On July 11, the day of remembrance for the victims of the massacre, Kosiniak-Kamysz visited the town of Olyka in Volhynia. There he stated that Poland would not forget the crimes of Ukrainian nationalists and called on both sides to tell each other the truth — “even that which is difficult to accept.”