Lviv Official Tells Polish Region That Contested UPA Year Resolution Is Not Yet in Force

Maksym Kozytskyi, who heads the Lviv Oblast Military Administration, has written to Wojciech Saługa, Marshal of Poland's Silesian Voivodeship, to say that a disputed resolution on the Ukrainian Insurgent Army has not taken effect. According to the letter, the measure declaring 2027 the Year of the UPA has not been signed and is not in force.

The Polish Press Agency reported the contents of the letter, citing the Chancellery of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship. European Pravda carried the report. The UPA was a nationalist paramilitary organisation that fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, mainly against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

Kozytskyi was responding to a letter from Saługa. "I would like to inform you that the resolution of the Lviv Oblast Council referred to in your letter has not yet been signed and has not come into force," he wrote. He added that he was convinced that decisions by authorities at every level must reflect Ukraine's foreign policy interests and good neighbourly relations with the Republic of Poland.

The official also said he understands how sensitive questions of remembrance are for both the Ukrainian and Polish peoples. In his view, such matters should be discussed in an atmosphere of mutual respect, openness and a readiness to understand one another.

Kozytskyi went on to highlight the long-standing partnership between Lviv Oblast and the Silesian Voivodeship. He thanked the Polish region for its support of Ukraine and for the help it has given to residents of Lviv Oblast and to Ukrainian citizens who found refuge in Silesia and elsewhere in Poland during Russia's aggression.

The letter follows a decision taken on 20 October, when the Lviv Oblast Council voted to designate 2027 as the Year of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, one of its commanders-in-chief Roman Shukhevych, and Oleh Olzhych. The vote drew criticism from Polish officials almost immediately.

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.

Separately, Łukasz Gibała, the new mayor of Kraków, has proposed suspending the city's partnership with Lviv in response to the council's decision.