Russia labels World War II-era Ukrainian nationalist leaders Nazi collaborators
A monument to Stepan Bandera (photo: t.me/andriysadovyi)
The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow, acting on a lawsuit filed by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, has ruled that Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych, and others were collaborators of Nazi Germany during World War II, according to RIA Novosti.
In particular, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and its commander-in-chief Roman Shukhevych, as well as the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and its leader Stepan Bandera, were recognized as "accomplices of Nazi Germany in war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Soviet people" during World War II.
"The application is granted," Judge Yevgeny Komissarov announced.
It is stated that the court made this decision "to preserve the memory of the victims of the genocide of the Soviet people," as well as to "overturn decisions on the rehabilitation of war criminals and stop acts of extremism" against Russia.
At the end of May, diplomatic relations between Kyiv and Warsaw deteriorated after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded one of the special units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces the honorary title "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army."
This decision triggered a negative reaction from the Polish side. In Poland, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army is considered responsible for the Volhynia tragedy of 1943–1945, which Warsaw regards as the genocide of the Polish population.
In addition, Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that Warsaw would not support Ukraine's accession to the European Union unless Kyiv stopped honoring certain historical figures.
According to the Polish minister, the continued use of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army as national symbols could become a serious obstacle to Ukraine's path toward membership in the European Union.
The state has begun the reburial of national heroes in Ukraine, and the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) is already preparing a law on the creation of the National Pantheon.
