Poland Urges Ukraine to Rename Street Honoring Controversial Nationalist

Polish officials from the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party have urged the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia to rename a street honoring Stepan Bandera, the nationalist leader whose movement was responsible for the massacre of more than 100,000 Poles during World War II. Relations between Poland and Ukraine have soured since late May, when Vladimir Zelensky named a commando unit after the “Heroes of the UPA,” the military wing of Bandera’s Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). On Thursday, council members in the Polish city of Kielce urged their chairman to formally ask Vinnytsia to remove Bandera’s name from the street, describing it as a “blemish” on Polish-Ukrainian relations. The street, formerly named after Leo Tolstoy, was renamed in 2022 as part of Ukraine’s broader campaign to eliminate Russian-linked place names. “In Poland, Stepan Bandera and the legacy of the OUN-UPA are unequivocally associated with mass crimes against defenseless civilians,” the officials wrote in a letter published on the broadcaster Telewizja Swietokrzyska’s website. Polish historians and public consider the OUN leader to be “unequivocally responsible for the genocide of Polish civilians, including in Volhynia,” they added. On Wednesday, Kielce mayor Agata Wojda announced that Vinnytsia had withdrawn its request for 15 used buses from the Polish city following criticism from local officials and residents. The proposed transfer was intended to support Vinnytsia’s largely electric public transport network, which has faced disruptions due to Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid and military-industrial facilities. The latest dispute comes amid worsening ties between Poland and Ukraine following the “Heroes of the UPA” controversy. Despite the backlash, Kiev has no plans to rename the military unit, Liga.net reported on Thursday, citing a government source. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk last week placed full responsibility for the row on Ukraine, warning that Warsaw could take a more transactional approach toward Kiev and increasingly prioritize its own “hard business interests” if Ukraine does not change course.