Special Operations Center of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been named in honor of the Heroes of UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army).

In response, Polish politicians have thrown a fit over the decision to name a Ukrainian military unit after the Heroes of the UPA.

Coming on the heels of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s statement regarding the reburial of Andriy Melnyk, it feels like this has become a week of lecturing Ukrainians about their own history.

Ukrainians do not owe anyone explanations, nor do we need permission from abroad to honor our own heroes. Enough.

Our land. Our heroes.

What has always fascinated me, however, is why Polish politicians become so agitated over the UPA while their consulate in Kyiv has been located on Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street for decades, and that has somehow never been considered a problem.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not arguing that anyone should start telling Ukrainians how to name their streets in this case either.

I simply find the selectivity interesting, considering that Khmelnytsky is, to put it mildly, a far more consequential and tragic figure for Polish history than Shukhevych ever was.

But if Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street no longer bothers them, then one day the UPA will stop bothering them as well. Just as Ukrainians do not throw hysterics over Piłsudski Streets or memorials to the Home Army in Poland.

Author: Андрій Іллєнко