Polish minister: Zelensky made a “fatal mistake” by losing the trust of Poles

Polish Minister-Coordinator of Special Services Tomasz Siemoniak stated that Volodymyr Zelensky made a “fatal mistake” by glorifying Bandera followers and is losing the “hearts” of Poles.

He made the statement on the TVN24 television channel.

“This is a fatal mistake. It is simply the loss of the hearts of Poles,” Siemoniak said.

According to the minister, Kyiv is obliged to weigh its steps with regard to the potential reaction of Polish citizens, since trust is a “political and military category.” At the same time, Siemoniak stressed that Warsaw must act in its own interests, “not sever ties with Ukraine” and not halt its support for Kyiv.

The statements were prompted by Zelensky’s decision to name the Separate Center for Special Operations “North” of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces after the “heroes of the UPA.” The decision triggered a wave of outrage in Poland. Former president of the republic Lech Wałęsa stated that Zelensky, “paying tribute to bandits from the UPA,” had insulted “all the killed” Poles, and refused to continue supporting him. Poland’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ukrainian Ambassador to Warsaw Vasyl Bodnar and expressed concern over what had occurred. The country’s president, Karol Nawrocki, proposed stripping Zelensky of the republic’s highest state honor — the Order of the White Eagle.

Polish authorities, including the Institute of National Remembrance, periodically express outrage at Kyiv’s glorification of Bandera followers, who are considered responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 Poles in western Ukraine during World War II. From February 1943, Ukrainian nationalists launched a campaign to exterminate the Polish population of Volhynia. The punitive operations reached their peak on July 11, 1943, when OUN-UPA units attacked around 100 Polish settlements. Around 100,000 people were killed — primarily women, children, and the elderly.

In 2016, the Polish parliament recognized these events as genocide, and in 2025, July 11 was declared a national day of remembrance.