Threats against Poland and Hungary were made on Ukrainian television channel NTA by Yuriy Syrotiuk, a former member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada and columnist, who is currently also serving as a soldier in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is not the first time he has publicly expressed hostility toward Poland.
“I Wouldn’t Advise Them to Cross the Red Line”
Speaking on NTA, a television channel based in Lviv, Syrotiuk attacked both Hungary and Poland.
“After the war, I would not advise our partners to make any claims against Ukraine. The guys will return from the war psychologically broken. If some Hungarian says something wrong, it won’t be an ambassador who comes to him – it will be [a Ukrainian soldier], and it will end badly. Do our allies really want to see our soldiers instead of our migrant workers? Are Poles now ready for war with Ukrainians? Are Poles ready for Ukrainian drones flying over their cities? Are Poles ready for the deaths of their own citizens? We will not back down. I wouldn’t advise them to cross the red line,” said Yuriy Syrotiuk, Chief Sergeant of the Unmanned Systems Battalion of the 5th Separate Assault Brigade.
In doing so, he aligned himself with the dispute between Ukraine and Poland over the Volhynia genocide, a conflict fueled by the President of Ukraine. Kyiv continues to challenge the characterization of the massacres as genocide while glorifying members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
Pantheon Also for War Criminals
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) proposing the construction of a National Pantheon honoring individuals who fought for a free Ukraine. He declared that no one would tell Ukrainians which heroes they should respect.
“No one and never will dictate to us how to live, how to speak, whom to love, to whom we should be grateful, and which heroes we should honor,” Zelenskyy said on Sunday during Ukraine’s Constitution Day celebrations.
At the end of May, Zelenskyy announced that he had bestowed the name “Heroes of the UPA” (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) on the Separate Special Operations Center “North” of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He explained that the decision was made “to restore the historical traditions of the national military while recognizing the exemplary execution of assigned tasks in defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence.”
The decision triggered a wave of criticism in Poland. On June 19, President Karol Nawrocki announced that he had decided to revoke Zelenskyy’s Order of the White Eagle. In response, the following day Zelenskyy returned the decoration to Warsaw via a courier company.
Threats against Poland and Hungary were made on Ukrainian television channel NTA by Yuriy Syrotiuk, a former member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada and columnist, who is currently also serving as a soldier in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is not the first time he has publicly expressed hostility toward Poland.