Poland marks Volhynia massacre day as Ukraine row deepens

Poland marked its National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Volhynia Massacre on July 11, 2026, with commemorations that underscored a deepening diplomatic rift with Ukraine over historical memory. The annual observance, which honors the tens of thousands of Polish civilians killed by Ukrainian nationalist forces during World War II, took place amid heightened tensions following a Ukrainian decision to honor a military unit linked to the perpetrators.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki traveled to the village of Radruż, near the Ukrainian border, to deliver a speech. He stated that the nation refuses to allow the 120,000 Poles, including women and children, brutally murdered by Ukrainian nationalists to be forgotten. Nawrocki sought to distinguish between condemning the historical ideology and the modern Ukrainian nation, specifically denouncing what he called the Bandera ideology, a reference to Stepan Bandera, a leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).

Separately, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced plans for a Wall of Remembrance to be built in Warsaw, which will bear the names of identified victims. He described remembering the victims as a shared...