The Russians have removed bas-reliefs of the Order of Virtuti Militari and the September Campaign Cross from the cemetery in Katyn. Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) reacted to this scandalous action. – The desecration of sites of remembrance is conduct unworthy of civilized nations – the institution stated in its released declaration. The Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression (UDSKiOR) and the Federation of Katyn Families are demanding that Polish symbols be restored at the Katyn necropolises.
Removal of Polish symbols at the Katyn cemetery
The order to dismantle the bas-reliefs was issued by the prosecutor’s office of the Smolensk region, which argued that the reliefs violate regulations concerning cultural heritage objects and the commemoration of victory in the Great Patriotic War, as the Second World War is referred to in Russia’s official state narrative. The removal of the sculptures was demanded by Valery Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the Smolensk regional Duma, representing the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. This party consistently denies the USSR’s responsibility for the Katyn massacre.
In May 2025, similar bas-reliefs were removed from monuments in Miednoje based on a decision of the Tver regional council, where another cemetery for victims of the Katyn crime is located.
At the Katyn cemetery rest 4,421 Polish soldiers, murdered in 1940 by the NKVD. The total number of Polish citizens murdered at that time amounted to 22,000, including 15,000 prisoners of war from the camps in Kozelsk, Starobilsk and Ostashkov.
IPN’s reaction
In its statement released on Wednesday, the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) “strongly condemns the act of desecration committed by the authorities of the Russian Federation at the Katyn War Cemetery by removing bas-reliefs depicting the War Order of Virtuti Militari and the 1939 September Campaign Cross.”
“According to the decision of the Russian prosecutor’s office, the Polish symbols – the Order of Virtuti Militari, with which Poland honored the victory over the Russians in 1792, and the September Campaign Cross, commemorating the German-Soviet aggression of 1939, the first chapter of the Second World War – allegedly violate regulations in force in the Russian Federation concerning cultural heritage objects and the commemoration of the Soviet people’s victory in the Great Patriotic War” – the statement reads.
The declaration recalls that the Order of Virtuti Militari was established in 1792 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski as an award for outstanding military merit. It is one of the oldest existing military decorations in the world. It has been awarded to both soldiers and military units for exceptional bravery. The decoration has five classes, the highest of which is the Grand Cross. The September Campaign Cross commemorates the heroes of Poland’s defense in 1939 and expresses respect for their sacrifice.
“Both of these decorations symbolize the continuity of Poles’ struggle for freedom. Together they form emblems of the Polish path to independence, preserving the memory of the determination and courage of many generations” – the IPN states.
“Contrary to the claims of the Russian authorities that these decorations are ‘Russophobic’ – they were created to commemorate specific historical events and the heroism of soldiers, and their significance relates to the struggle for Poland’s independence, not to contemporary or ethnic prejudices” – the statement adds.
The IPN also recalls that in Poland, under the Act of 1 April 2016 on the Prohibition of Propagating Communism or Any Other Totalitarian Regime, monuments may not commemorate persons, organizations, events or dates symbolizing communism or another totalitarian system, nor may they propagate such a system in any other way. The legislator has also deemed removable all monuments referring to persons, organizations, events or dates symbolizing the repressive, authoritarian and non-sovereign system of power in Poland between 1944 and 1989. “All war cemeteries where Red Army soldiers are buried are protected by the Republic of Poland. In doing so, Poland observes not only international agreements but also the national provisions of the Act of 28 March 1933 on War Graves and Cemeteries. These explicitly state that war graves and cemeteries – regardless of the nationality and religion of those buried there, and regardless of their military formation – are to be maintained and treated with due respect” – the IPN notes.
The statement further points out that the desecration carried out by the Russian authorities fulfills the threats made by the Smolensk regional authorities in May and August 2025, in response to which the IPN issued two declarations. “The Institute of National Remembrance calls on the authorities of the Smolensk region of the Russian Federation to restore the destroyed bas-reliefs, which constitute an integral part of Poland’s national identity and historical memory. The desecration of sites of remembrance is conduct unworthy of civilized nations” – the institution emphasizes.
A joint declaration was also issued by Lech Parell, head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression (UDSKiOR), and Izabella Sariusz-Skąpska, president of the Federation of Katyn Families, demanding the restoration of Polish symbols at the Katyn necropolises and consequences for those responsible for this “act of barbarism.”
“At the Polish War Cemetery in Katyn rest 4,421 officers and cadets of the Polish Army murdered in 1940 by the NKVD. For years, Polish authorities and families of the victims have been deprived of access to the burial sites of the murdered located on the territory of Russia. The chiseling away of Polish military symbols is yet another act of erasing the memory of this terrible crime, which the Polish authorities and Polish society do not and will not accept” – the declaration states.
It recalls that on 13 April 1943, the death pits in Katyn were discovered and that already then impartial and independent experts of the International Medical Commission determined beyond any doubt the time of death – 1940 – and the Soviet responsibility for the murder of Polish POWs. “Stalin denied it – and thus the Katyn lie was born, driving a wedge between the Allies and becoming a cornerstone of the post-war order that placed Poland in the Soviet sphere of influence” – the statement reads.
It also recalls that on 13 April 1990, the collapsing Soviet Union admitted responsibility for Katyn. “After 50 years, the world learned of Stalin’s disgraceful decision, taken on 5 March 1940 by him and his collaborators, sentencing 21,768 Polish POWs to death – without summons, without charges, without trial” – it notes.
“But the Katyn lie did not die. It is being revived in the Russian Federation, just as dreams of power and the return of a Russian empire – one meant to terrify the whole world – have been revived. In the 85th anniversary year of the Katyn Massacre, in May 2025, at the Polish War Cemetery in Miednoje, representations of the Order of Virtuti Militari and the 1939 September Campaign Cross were destroyed. These sculptures were an integral part of this Katyn necropolis. Their removal violated the 22 February 1994 agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Russian Federation on war graves and sites of remembrance of victims of wars and repression” – the declaration stresses.
It notes that the same act of desecration has now been committed at the Polish War Cemetery in Katyn.
“Those who carried out this disgraceful act seem to forget that Poland is not a lonely defeated nation but belongs to the community of free states of the free world and will not be intimidated, and the truth will not be silenced. This site of remembrance has symbolic significance not only for the citizens of the Republic of Poland but is known far beyond our borders” – it states.
The declaration emphasizes that the representations of the Order of Virtuti Militari and the 1939 September Campaign Cross must be returned to the Katyn necropolises in Miednoje and Katyn, and that those responsible for this act of barbarism must be held accountable. “A lie repeated a thousand times will never become the truth” – it concludes.