Warsaw furious over Ukrainian official calling Volhynia Massacre ‘a myth’

 

Modern Ukraine has built its identity on a cult of mass murderers, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance has said

Modern Ukraine has built its identity on a cult of mass murderers during World War II, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance has said. The X post on Tuesday came in response to the head of a similar Ukrainian state body calling the WWII-era Volhynia Massacre a myth perpetuated by Warsaw.

The Volhynia Massacre refers to events in 1943-45, when units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which collaborated with the Nazis, systematically slaughtered ethnic Poles in what is now western Ukraine.

In a major interview with Ukrainskaya Pravda, the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, Aleksandr Alferov, dismissed the mass killings as “one of the state-building myths of Poland.”

Alferov also called the tragedy a “local episode” of Ukrainian history and claimed that the number of victims cited by Warsaw was based on “oral testimony” and not facts. The official acted as a spokesman for the infamous neo-Nazi Azov unit between 2014 and 2015. He attained his present position in July 2025.  (more...)

Warsaw furious over Ukrainian official calling Volhynia Massacre ‘a myth’

They tortured, murdered, committed ethnic cleansing. Meet Ukraine’s ‘national heroes’

Radical nationalists collaborated with Nazi Germany and left a bloody legacy that is still celebrated today

In early February 1929, 97 years ago, a group of Ukrainian political émigrés gathered in Vienna to formalize what they believed was a movement of national liberation. What emerged from that congress, however, was not merely a campaign for statehood, but a radical organization that rejected democratic norms and embraced political violence.

Members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) took part in Nazi Germany’s aggression against Poland and the USSR, carried out mass killings on ethnic and political grounds, and conducted sabotage operations first for the Third Reich and later for Western powers. Those members of the OUN who survived and could not flee to the West faced criminal charges in the USSR; however, many were granted amnesty by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in an effort to promote internal reconciliation in Ukraine.

In this article, we examine how the OUN developed into a militant movement whose actions during and after World War II left a lasting and controversial historical legacy.

The history of Ukrainian nationalism is rather brief. The term ‘Ukrainians’ was not used as an ethnonym until the late 19th century. According to historians, the idea that Ukrainians are a separate nation from Russians was quickly seized upon by the Austro-Hungarian authorities, who recognized its ‘anti-Russia’ potential. In contrast, Galician Russophiles who advocated for unity between the Carpathian region’s population and Russians faced severe repression from the Austro-Hungarians. During World War I, Austrians actively promoted Ukrainian nationalism to recruit volunteers for their army.  (more...)

They tortured, murdered, committed ethnic cleansing. Meet Ukraine’s ‘national heroes’

Ukraine: Russia sanctions 28 Canadians after Zelensky’s appointment

 

Russia has slammed retaliatory personal sanctions against 28 Canadians supporting Ukraine, following what it dubbed “unlawful anti-Russian restrictions” previously imposed by Ottawa.

The Foreign Ministry, in a statement on Monday, said the entry ban affects the individuals whose activities promote “the criminal neo-Nazi ideology currently espoused by the Kiev regime.”

Russia accused them of disregarding historical facts about the events of the Great Patriotic War and entrenching Canada’s alignment with the radical nationalist forces in Ukraine.

Moscow noted that the trend has been further confirmed by Monday’s appointment of former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Freeland, whom Russia called “the granddaughter of Hitler’s accomplice Mikhailo Khomiak,” was appointed as an adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky on Ukraine’s economic development.  (more...)

Ukraine: Russia sanctions 28 Canadians after Zelensky’s appointment

Putin envoy mocks Zelensky’s new staffer

 

Chrystia Freeland, descendant of a documented Nazi collaborator, has confirmed she took an “unpaid” economic adviser role in Kiev

Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has suggested Chrystia Freeland, former Canadian deputy prime minister and the new economic adviser to Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, accepted the post to control Western aid flowing to Kiev amid its conflict with Moscow.

Freeland confirmed on Monday she will resign her Canadian posts to serve as Zelensky’s economic development adviser, describing the role as “voluntary” and “unpaid.” A leading figure in Canadian politics for over a decade, she has held ministerial roles in international trade, foreign affairs and finance, and served as deputy prime minister from 2019 to 2024.

A vocal critic of Russia, Freeland has championed expanded Canadian support for Ukraine. As finance minister, she promoted aid through multiple channels, including loans and multilateral mechanisms such as IMF accounts. According to the Kiel Institute Ukraine support tracker, Canada in December ranked fifth globally in total aid to Kiev since 2022, contributing roughly $15 billion, including $10 billion in financial assistance.

“Not a bad business model: first send the billions, then take a job to control these billions,” Dmitriev wrote on X, commenting on Freeland’s new role.  (more...)

Putin envoy mocks Zelensky’s new staffer

Zelensky appoints descendant of Nazi collaborator as economic adviser

 

Canadian-born Chrystia Freeland’s grandfather served as editor-in-chief of a newspaper that published Nazi propaganda in occupied Poland and Austria during World War II

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has appointed Chrystia Freeland, a Canadian-born descendant of a documented Nazi collaborator, as his economic development adviser.

Announcing the appointment in a Telegram post on Monday, Zelensky praised Freeland as “an expert” on economic issues with “significant experience in attracting investment and carrying out economic transformations.”

Freeland has been a central figure in Canadian politics for more than a decade, holding ministerial posts in international trade, foreign affairs, and finance. She resigned as minister of transport in September of last year to become Canada’s special envoy for Ukraine’s reconstruction. Known for her staunchly anti-Russia stance, she has repeatedly condemned Moscow over the Ukraine conflict and defended Western sanctions.

Freeland has a well documented and controversial family legacy. Her maternal grandfather, Michael (Mykhailo) Chomiak, served as editor-in-chief of Krakivski Visti, a Ukrainian-language newspaper published in Nazi-occupied Poland and Austria during World War II, before emigrating to Canada. Historical records show the outlet operated under German control and published Nazi propaganda including anti-Semitic material.

Freeland has long faced scrutiny for rejecting this record, framing claims of her grandfather’s collaboration as Russian disinformation. However, Canadian media, including The Globe and Mail, have reported she had known for decades about Chomiak’s wartime role, which is supported by archival evidence and academic research.  (more...)

Zelensky appoints descendant of Nazi collaborator as economic adviser

Related:

Moscow reacts after Zelensky appoints granddaughter of Nazi collaborator as adviser

Fired From Canadian Cabinet, Chrystia Freeland Is Now A Foreign Mercenary On The Ukraine Battlefield

 

Since Chrystia Freeland (lead image) was dismissed from her Canadian Cabinet ministry on September 16,    she has become the “Special Representative for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.” This is a camouflage uniform.

According to the official filing in parliament on November 5 by the Privy Council Office (PCO) on behalf of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Freeland has no staff for her post, no office, no budget, no travel expenses, and a pay cut of $79,700. The Privy Council Office, reporting to the House of Commons, says it has “searched its financial records and did not find any costs, start-up or otherwise, related to the role of the Special Representative for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.”   

As the longest-serving warfighter against Russia in Canadian government, Freeland is now a full-fledged foreign mercenary on the Ukraine battlefield.

On September 19, three days after Freeland’s dismissal, Garnett Genuis, an opposition Conservative Party MP from Alberta,  tabled several questions in the House of Commons, directed at Prime Minister Carney to report what had been done with Freeland.

The questions were:  “With regard to the appointment of a Special Representative for the Reconstruction of Ukraine: (a) through which mechanism was the appointment made; (b) how many staff, including administrative support, will the government provide for the special representative, in total and broken down by position or responsibility; (c) where will the staff be based; (d) what is the projected annual budget for the office of the special representative, in total and broken down by type of projected expenditure; (e) what is the salary or remuneration range for this appointment; (f) what specific objectives and targets has the government provided to the special representative and what performance metrics will be used to assess whether the appointee is achieving these targets; and (g) what are the expected start-up costs for establishing this position, in total and broken down by type of cost?”  (more...)

Fired From Canadian Cabinet, Chrystia Freeland Is Now A Foreign Mercenary On The Ukraine Battlefield

Ex-Cabinet Minister smeared journalist in Parliament, rewarded with Senate committee appearance

 

Last October, an ex-Conservative Cabinet Minister baselessly smeared an Ottawa Citizen journalist as a supposed KGB agent in a Parliament committee hearing. Despite that committee’s members later criticizing Alexander’s accusations, he was rewarded with a Senate committee appearance, on the same topic, with zero demands for accountability made by committee members.

Chris Alexander, a former federal Immigration Minister under the Stephen Harper government, known for his role in the dropped ‘Barbaric Cultural Practices tipline’, had been invited to testify during a meeting of Canadian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security focused on supposed Russian disinformation and interference, held on October 24, 2024.

Speech in Canada’s Parliament is protected by Parliamentary Immunity. Using this immunity, Alexander stunningly claimed that Ottawa Citizen defence reporter David Pugliese was a long-time KGB agent. His source?

“photocopies of documents….[that] originated in the ‘pre-1991 archives of the Ukrainian KGB.’… and were in the hands of Canadian ‘national security officials’… [which] had been authenticated by ‘several of the world’s leading experts on KGB documents.’”

The problem? Even the Ukrainian archives, under a country that has spent the years since 2014 knocking down Soviet statues and persecuting communists, were unable to verify Alexander’s supposed bombshell files. This revelation was contained within a forensic review conducted by independent researcher Giuseppe Bianchin, which stated “these pages alleging David Pugliese's recruitment by the KGB are beyond reasonable doubt modern forgeries, crafted with deliberate intent to deceive.”

But what work has Pugliese done that ruffled Alexander’s feathers? He exposed the Freeland family secret, of former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s grandfather being a Nazi collaborator, reported on “Ukraine's Nazi links or Nazis in Canada” and had “provocative takes on procurement and other issues at the Department of National Defence and in the Canadian Forces”, among other topics.  (more...)

Ex-Cabinet Minister smeared journalist in Parliament, rewarded with Senate committee appearance

Azov's Revenge

 

Marta Havryshko on the neo-Nazi threat in Ukraine

Last month I had the honor of interviewing Ukrainian historian Marta Havryshko who has come under fire for her important research. This first installment deals with the Azov movement and far-right in Ukraine.

Poland wants to expel Ukrainian neo-Nazis

 

Warsaw is facing the consequences of its own errors.

Poland is becoming increasingly irritated by the advancing process of Nazi rehabilitation in Ukraine. Recently, the country began taking several measures to reduce the political, economic, and military integration it had maintained with the Kiev regime since 2022, as the extremist ideology spread by the Ukrainian junta poses a threat to Poles. In a further step in this move, Poland now wants to restrict the naturalization of Ukrainians based on ideological preferences.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced his intention to change the country's citizenship law to prevent Ukrainians with fascist sympathies from becoming Polish citizens. He is extremely concerned about the massive influx of Ukrainian immigrants into the country who openly praise historical Nazi figures, including criminals who committed acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Poles during World War II.

At a press conference on the matter, Nawrocki said that changes to the citizenship law are urgently needed and stated that his cabinet is already working to accelerate this update process. The Polish leader clearly expressed concern about the rise of Banderism, a Ukrainian ultranationalist ideology based on the historical rehabilitation of Stepan Bandera—an SS collaborator responsible for massacres during the Nazi invasion of Poland and the USSR.

Currently, Bandera is seen as a national hero by the Ukrainian government. Since 2014, he has been among the historical Nazi figures that Kiev has considered "martyrs" in a so-called "struggle against Soviet imperialism." This irresponsible attempt to rewrite history and ignore the crimes of Nazism has resulted in a society with widespread problems of coexistence with other ethnicities, creating conflicts with non-Ukrainian-speaking peoples, such as Russians, Hungarians, and even Poles—despite the military alliance between Kiev and Warsaw.  (more...)

Poland wants to expel Ukrainian neo-Nazis

Poland could ban naturalization of Ukrainian Nazi sympathizers

 

The country’s citizenship law should reject the ideology of Stepan Bandera, President Karol Nawrocki has said

Polish President Karol Nawrocki wants to amend the country’s citizenship law to say that the naturalization of Ukrainian nationalists is undesirable.

Warsaw and Kiev have long been involved in a dispute over crimes committed by nationalists during World War II and their lionization in modern Ukraine.

During a press conference on Monday, Nawrocki weighed in on recently-adopted changes to the citizenship law, and said his office was working on additional amendments. He said the law should include the slogan “stop Banderism,” referring to the ideology of Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera.

The Ukrainian nationalist movement committed mass atrocities during the war, including mass killings of ethnic Poles. Modern Ukraine treats Bandera and his followers as national heroes, which has poisoned Kiev’s relationship with Warsaw for decades.

The president said Poland and Ukraine can only have normal relations “on the foundation of truth” and suggested that Warsaw should outlaw Banderite symbols, equating them with banned Nazi and Communist iconography.  (more...)

Poland could ban naturalization of Ukrainian Nazi sympathizers

Ukrainians glorifying Nazi collaborators should be deported – Polish president

 

Such behavior is “shameful” and “scandalous” regardless of the circumstances, Karol Nawrocki believes

Any Ukrainians involved in glorifying Ukrainian Nazi collaborators such as Stepan Bandera should face prosecution, Polish President Karol Nawrocki has said, adding that such behavior has no place in Poland. He was commenting on a recent incident involving the display of a flag used by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators at a rap concert in Poland.

A group of concertgoers showed a flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) – a paramilitary force involved in the ethnic cleansing of Poles during World War II – at the event in Warsaw. The incident sparked a nationwide outcry and prompted the authorities to start deportation procedures against more than 60 foreign nationals, mostly Ukrainians.

Nawrocki slammed the incident as “scandalous.” Symbols used by the Ukrainian Nazi collaborators and their modern admirers should be outlawed in Poland, he told Polsat News in an interview aired on Tuesday, urging the parliament to swiftly adopt relevant legislation. Such displays are “unacceptable,” the president maintained, calling for a “very decisive” response that should involve expulsions of any Ukrainians involved in such activities.

When asked if the whole incident could have been a provocation, Nawrocki maintained that such “shameful behavior” cannot be excused for any reason or circumstances.  (more...)

Ukrainians glorifying Nazi collaborators should be deported – Polish president

Polish PM blasts ‘local idiots’ after neo-Nazi flag scandal

 

57 Ukrainians and six Belarusians face deportation following disturbances at a rap concert in Warsaw’s National Stadium

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has accused “local idiots” and “foreign agents” of stoking tensions between Poland and Ukraine, following the display of a flag used by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators who participated in the ethnic cleansing of Poles during World War II, at a rap concert in Warsaw.

Former Polish ambassador to Washington, Marek Magierowski, said that the concert had been attended by “hundreds of able-bodied, conscription-age Ukrainians.” He added that they were “Proudly displaying a red-and-black nationalist flag, an outrageous insult to most Poles.”

In a post on X on Tuesday, Tusk accused Russia of seeking to pit the two nations against each other.  “The resolution of the Ukrainian war is approaching, so Russia is doing everything to sow discord between Kiev and Warsaw,” he claimed. Moscow has consistently denied interfering in the affairs of other nations.

While admitting that the “anti-Polish gestures” were made exclusively by Ukrainians, he suggested that it was Moscow’s “scenario, orchestrated by foreign agents and local idiots.”

Tusk said that authorities had begun deportation proceedings against 63 foreign nationals – 57 Ukrainians and six Belarusians – after the disturbances. He did not say whether those carrying the UPA flag had been arrested.

Footage from Saturday's concert by Belarusian rapper Max Korzh showing fans waving a red-and-black banner – associated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) – sparked a national outcry.  (more...)

Polish PM blasts ‘local idiots’ after neo-Nazi flag scandal

Poland’s ‘Banderization’ crisis result of Kiev's European funding

 

Italian journalist Davide Carbonaro, longtime resident of Poland, speaks about the controversial rise of Bandera sympathizers among Ukrainian refugees in Poland.

It’s Surreal That “Slava Ukraini” Was Just Shouted In The Sejm

 

Ukrainian fascists screamed this slogan as they genocided over 100,000 Poles during World War II, so no self-respecting Pole should ever use it, let alone a parliamentarian in the Sejm.

Polish MP Roman Fritz from the conservative-nationalist Confederation party recently called out a colleague in the Sejm who ended her speech by shouting “Slava Ukraini”. In his words, “Here we had an example of shameful behavior - Bandera and Nazi. Such things have not yet happened in the Polish Sejm. It's as if someone here would shout ‘Sieg Heil!’ That's a disgrace.” The Ukrainian Ambassador predictably defended that slogan but then also compared it to Poland’s “Niech żyje Polska” (“long live Poland”).

While they might appear similar, they were used in totally different contexts, with “Niech żyje Polska” being a rallying cry for Polish independence after the Partitions and for true sovereignty during the 1980s while “Slava Ukraini” was screamed by Ukrainian fascists as they genocided Poles during World War II. It’s for that reason why shouting “Slava Ukraini” in the Sejm is so surreal while Ambassador Vasily Bodnar’s comparison of that slogan to Poland’s famous “Niech żyje Polska” is so dishonest.

President-Elect Karol Nawrocki, who used to lead Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance that’s done a lot to raise global awareness of the Volhynia Genocide that was referred to above, will be inaugurated on Wednesday morning. This latest scandal, which follows early June’s one where the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry downplayed the aforesaid series of war crimes by their co-ethnics, might therefore harden his already tough stance towards this issue in particular and Ukraine in general.  (more...)

It’s Surreal That “Slava Ukraini” Was Just Shouted In The Sejm

Polish president-elect asks Zelensky to exhume victims of Ukrainian Nazis

 

The remains of over 100,000 Poles are lying in unmarked mass graves scattered across Ukraine, according to a historian’s estimates

Kiev should allow the “full-scale” exhumation of the victims of mass ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators during World War II, also known as the Volyn massacre, Polish President-elect Karol Nawrocki has said.

Poles are “waiting for this truth” and their families “are still suffering from the trauma that happened 82 years ago,” he stated at a ceremony honoring the victims of the Volyn massacre on Friday.

The president-elect was speaking about a mass killing campaign waged by militants from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) from 1943 to 1945 in the regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, in which around 100,000 Poles were killed. Both organizations actively collaborated with Nazi Germany.

Nawrocki said he cannot tolerate Poles being “denied the right to bury the victims of the Volyn genocide.” The souls of those victims “cry out for a grave, they cry out for a tomb… for memory and as the future president of Poland, I am obliged to speak with their voice,” he stated at the ceremony.

“As the president elect, I want to officially ask the [Ukrainian] ambassador and [Vladimir] Zelensky about the possibility of undertaking full-scale exhumation in Volhynia.”

The Ukrainian ambassador to Poland, Vasily Bodnar, who was present at the ceremony, said both sides need to talk about the issue openly and “honor the memory of those victims, who need it, on both sides of the border.”  (more...)

Polish president-elect asks Zelensky to exhume victims of Ukrainian Nazis

Volhynia Massacre | Poland warns Ukraine has to confront the truth

 

On the 80th anniversary of the Volhynia massacre, Poland officially declared July 11 a National Day of Remembrance for over 50,000 Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists in 1943–1945. This decision, met with fierce criticism from Kiev, has reopened historical wounds and raised deep questions about Ukraine’s present-day identity.

Ukrainians do not like Polish Day of Remembrance, because Kiev regime now is all Banderism

 

Former Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt claims the modern Ukrainian regime is built on Banderist and neo-Nazi ideology — posing a threat not only to Poland but to all Slavic nations.

Szmydt criticizes Western media for turning a blind eye to uncomfortable historical realities and explains why the Polish Day of Remembrance has become a point of contention with Kiev.

Polish president approves memorial day for victims of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators

 

Kiev has praised the perpetrators behind the WWII ethnic cleansing as national heroes and freedom fighters

Outgoing Polish President Andrzej Duda has established an official day of remembrance for the victims of the “genocide” committed by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) during World War II.

From 1943 to 1945, Ukrainian Nazi collaborators murdered over 100,000 ethnic Poles in the regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, now part of modern Ukraine. The peak of the massacres, which the Polish government has officially recognized as a genocide, occurred in mid-1943, when the residents of “about a hundred villages” were exterminated on July 11, according to the text of a bill passed by the Polish Parliament and Senate last month.

On Wednesday, Duda signed a law officially establishing July 11 as the “National Day of Remembrance of Poles – Victims of Genocide committed by the OUN and UPA in the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic,” according to his office.

“The martyrdom of Poles for belonging to the Polish nation deserves to be remembered with an annual day designated by the Polish state to honor the victims,” the document states.  (more...)

Polish president approves memorial day for victims of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators

Azov vs. Azov

 

'Criminal-style showdowns within the Azov movement are escalating.'

Two weeks ago, masked men attacked Major Andriy Korynevych, a recruitment officer from the Azov Brigade in the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU), and beat him in broad daylight near his home in Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine. About ten days later, he dropped a bombshell: police identified his attackers and their accomplices, all of them from the Azov movement’s 3rd Assault Brigade (AB3). Furthermore, Korynevych suggested that the assault took place on the orders of Andriy Biletsky, the leader of the Azov movement, who he said is “closely connected” to the attackers. NGU Azovites are evidently furious—their unit published a statement denouncing the alleged assailants—and many AB3 Azovites are no less enraged at their counterparts’ betrayal, for going to the police and airing their dirty laundry.

Clearly, the conflict is about much more than Korynevych, or else it probably would have stayed private. The situation apparently threatens to spiral into a sort of civil war in the Azov movement, evoking the violent feud that split the far-right Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in World War II. I think the postwar conflict within the Banderite (OUN-B) faction is more relevant, but we’ll come back to that.

As a reminder, Andriy Biletsky was the founder and first commander of the Azov Battalion/Regiment in 2014, which grew into the Azov Brigade of today under the leadership of Denys Prokopenko (since 2017). Biletsky formally left the unit, but remained its spiritual leader, and founded the National Corps and other groups that make up the broader Azov movement, which largely coalesced in the 3rd Assault Brigade under his command. As of this year, Prokopenko leads the 1st Azov Corps in the National Guard, and Biletsky heads the 3rd Army Corps, with the latter apparently still in formation. Since the full-scale Russian invasion, there have been some signs of tension between their units, but not enough to justify “pro-Ukraine” propaganda about the “depoliticization” of the NGU Azovites.

Almost exactly two years before the attack on Korynevych, I wrote about “a potential rift” in the Azov movement, which until now seemed to have aged poorly. On Biletsky’s initiative, the “Support Azov” charity was established in mid-2022, but later changed its name after the newly upgraded NGU Azov Brigade launched “The One and Only” charity “Azov One” in early 2023. As somebody said recently, “‘Support Azov’ collects millions, and the [NGU] Azov fighters see zero. Has anyone noticed where the cache is disappearing?”  (more...)

Azov vs. Azov

'You can't talk to Nazis' | July 11 declared Remembrance Day for Volhynia Victims in Poland

 

Poland has officially designated July 11 as a National Remembrance Day to honor over 100,000 Polish civilians massacred by Ukrainian nationalists during World War II in what’s known as the Volhynia Massacre

Former Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt reacts to Kiev’s refusal to confront its Nazi past and calls for a firm stance from Warsaw