Zelensky, Duda commemorate victims of Volyn Massacre in Lutsk.
On July 9, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda commemorated the victims of the 1943 Volyn (Volhynia) Massacre during their surprise visit to Lutsk, a regional capital in northwestern Ukraine. "Together, we honor all the innocent victims of Volyn (Massacre). Memory unites us!
Together we are stronger!" Zelensky wrote[1] on Telegram. The members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the military wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, or OUN, massacred thousands of Poles throughout Volhynia in Nazi-occupied Poland -- an area that is now part of western Ukraine -- in the spring and summer of 1943.
How nationalist movements paved Ukraine's way to freedom When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many in the West, and in the Kremlin too, expected the Ukrainian state to crumble in weeks, if not days.
The government would flee, the state would be carved up - some lands absorbed by Russia, the rest perhaps being made into a
[2]
While most of the victims were Poles, some Ukrainians were also killed by Poles in retaliation. Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy, director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, estimates that the number of Ukrainians killed may vary between 15,000 and 30,000, while the estimates for the Polish victims vary between 60,000 and 90,000. In 2016, Poland's Parliament recognized the killings as genocide, a term that Ukraine denies.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda during their visit to the Ukrainian city of Lutsk on July 9, 2023. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)
Earlier on June 28, Duda also made an unannounced visit[3] to Kyiv to meet with Zelensky.
Daria Shulzhenko
Reporter
Daria Shulzhenko is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent.
She has been a lifestyle reporter at the Kyiv Post until November 2021. She graduated from Kyiv International University with a bachelor's in linguistics, specializing in translation from English and German languages. She has previously worked as a freelance writer and researcher.
References
- ^ wrote (t.me)
- ^ How nationalist movements paved Ukraine's way to freedomWhen Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many in the West, and in the Kremlin too, expected the Ukrainian state to crumble in weeks, if not days.
The government would flee, the state would be carved up - some lands absorbed by Russia, the rest perhaps being made into a
(kyivindependent.com) - ^ unannounced visit (kyivindependent.com)