Ukraine's embassy calls for investigation into desecration of Ukrainian memorial site in Poland
Unknown individuals have desecrated a Ukrainian memorial site in the Białystok forest near the village of Liski in Poland's Lublin Voivodeship. Ukraine's embassy has raised the matter with the Polish authorities.
Ukraine's Embassy in Poland said on Facebook that it had received information that unknown individuals had desecrated the memorial site by damaging it and disturbing its proper condition. The site commemorates fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
The site is a mass grave of soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), where those killed in a battle against the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) on 26 February 1946 are buried.
"Any acts of destruction, desecration or deliberate damage to places of remembrance are unacceptable. Regardless of the difficult and tragic chapters of our shared history, burial sites and memorials must remain outside political disputes and be treated with respect in accordance with generally accepted European standards and Christian values," the embassy said.
The embassy also stressed that any attempts to turn historical disputes into acts of vandalism, intimidation or hostility towards present-day Ukraine and Ukrainians are dangerous and must receive an appropriate legal response.
The embassy therefore called on the competent Polish authorities to carry out the necessary procedural steps, establish all the circumstances of the incident, bring those responsible to justice and ensure the restoration of the damaged memorial site.
"Ukraine consistently advocates preserving the memory of the tragic chapters of the past through dialogue, mutual respect and the principle that history must not be used as a tool for inciting hostility between nations. Ukraine's Embassy in the Republic of Poland has officially raised this matter with the Polish side," it adds.
A group of Polish men recently attacked a young Ukrainian couple in Wrocław after allegedly hearing their accent. The court ordered that the suspects be remanded in custody for three months.
Following those events, Poland's Ministry of the Interior stressed that such acts will be met with an appropriate response from law enforcement authorities, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on President Karol Nawrocki to "break his silence".
According to Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, there have been many attacks on Ukrainians in the country since 2022, but people have learned to defend themselves.