Duda and Zelenskyy honour Volhynia victims in Lutsk ceremony
A look back at the joint commemoration of the 1943 massacres held in Lutsk, and at the diplomatic and security developments of the preceding days.
What did the presidents of Poland and Ukraine do together on 9 July 2023? President of Poland Andrzej Duda and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commemorated the victims of the 1943 massacres in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia at a ceremony at the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral in Lutsk, Ukraine.
The event was part of Poland–Ukraine relations, with both leaders present in the same city to mark the victims of the massacres.
The days before
The days leading up to the ceremony had been busy for Zelenskyy. On 3 July 2023, Russia launched drone attacks on Sumy, killing two people and injuring 19 others. In response, Zelenskyy called for a major upgrade of anti-aircraft defences.
On the same day, he asked Georgian ambassador Gela Dumbadze to return home within 48 hours to negotiate the transfer of imprisoned former Georgian president and Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili to a Ukrainian clinic, citing Saakashvili's declining health.
Taken together, these reports from 3 July and the Lutsk ceremony on 9 July show a Ukrainian president handling air-defence needs, a dispute with Georgia over a prisoner's treatment and a commemoration with a neighbouring head of state within a single week.
