Lviv Officials Halt UPA Commemoration, Reassure Polish Region Resolution Is Dormant

Maksym Kozytskyi, who heads the Lviv Oblast Military Administration, has told the Marshal of Poland's Silesian Voivodeship, Wojciech Saługa, that a local resolution designating 2027 as the Year of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army is not yet law. The correspondence followed criticism from Warsaw after the Lviv Oblast Council voted on 20 October to honor the group, its commander-in-chief Roman Shukhevych, and Oleh Olzhych.

In a letter responding to Saługa, Kozytskyi stated that the Lviv Oblast Council's measure has not been signed and has not come into force. He added his conviction that decisions taken by authorities at every level must reflect Ukraine's foreign policy interests and good neighbourly relations with the Republic of Poland. The Polish Press Agency reported the contents of the letter, citing the Chancellery of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship, while European Pravda carried the report.

Kozytskyi addressed the sensitivity of historical memory for both nations, writing that questions of remembrance for Ukrainian and Polish peoples require an atmosphere of mutual respect, openness and a readiness to understand one another. He also noted the long-standing partnership between Lviv Oblast and the Silesian Voivodeship, thanking the Polish region for supporting Ukraine and for aiding residents of Lviv Oblast and Ukrainians who sought refuge in Silesia and other parts of Poland during Russia's aggression.

The letter arrives amid diplomatic tension over the council's 20 October designation of 2027 as the Year of the UPA. Polish officials criticized the decision almost immediately afterward. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk later said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made clear he would not support further steps by the Lviv Oblast Council toward declaring 2027 the year of the UPA and Roman Shukhevych.

The UPA operated as a nationalist paramilitary organization that fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, mainly against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. In Kraków, the city's new mayor, Łukasz Gibała, has proposed suspending the city's partnership with Lviv in response to the council's decision.