Poland to Build Memorial for Victims of Volhynia Massacre

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Poland will construct a memorial to honor the victims of the Volhynia massacre, with the announcement coming on the eve of the anniversary of what Poles call 'Bloody Sunday' of 1943. The Volhynia massacre refers to a series of mass killings carried out by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) against Polish civilians in the Volhynia region — then under German occupation, now part of western Ukraine — during World War II. Historians estimate that tens of thousands of ethnic Poles were killed. The events remain one of the most painful and contested chapters in Polish-Ukrainian relations, with Poland classifying the killings as genocide while Ukraine's position has historically been more ambiguous. The announcement comes amid renewed tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv over the issue. Relations on this historical question soured further after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky granted the honorary title 'Heroes of the UPA' to one of Ukraine's military units — a move that drew sharp criticism in Poland, where the UPA is widely associated with wartime atrocities against Polish civilians. Despite the two countries being close allies in the context of Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, the Volhynia issue continues to be a significant source of friction between them.