LVIV DECIDES TO HONOR THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR MASSACRE OF POLES, TUSK RESPONDS

WARSAW, OCTOBER 21 /SRNA/ – The Lviv Regional Council today decided to dedicate 2027 to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army /UPA/, whose members were responsible for the massacre of Poles in western Ukraine during the Second World War, prompting a sharp reaction from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

"This harms Ukraine and plays into the hands of those who wish it ill," Tusk told Polish media.

The Lviv Regional Council decided today to dedicate 2027 to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and its commander, Roman Shukhevych.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry also criticized the decision, describing it as "counterproductive" and saying it undermined efforts to strengthen Ukrainian-Polish relations.

The ministry said the resolution had been adopted at the regional level without consultation with either the Foreign Ministry or the central authorities.

The decision will mark the 85th anniversary of the UPA's founding and the 120th anniversary of Shukhevych's birth.

Shukhevych led the UPA from 1943 to 1950. The organization carried out mass killings of the local Polish population in territory that is now part of western Ukraine.

Before the UPA was established, Shukhevych was one of the leaders of the Ukrainian volunteer battalion Nachtigall, which took part in Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union as part of the Wehrmacht and participated in the persecution of Jews.