Why did MEPs rebuke Kyiv over a UPA-linked unit title?
A look back at the European Parliament's resolution of 8 July 2026 and the events around the days that followed.
What did the European Parliament say about Kyiv's decision to honour a military unit with a link to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)? By 11 July 2026, the question had been in play for several days, after a resolution passed on 8 July.
The resolution expressed regret over the decision of Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to name a military unit after the UPA. It cited the UPA's responsibility for the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.
The row had begun in May 2026, when Zelenskyy awarded the Special Operations Center North the honorary title "Heroes of the UPA" at the unit's request. The decision caused outrage in Poland and led to a major crisis in bilateral relations. The massacres were carried out from 1943 to 1945, and the UPA's actions resulted in up to 100,000 Polish deaths.
War continued alongside the dispute
The diplomatic dispute unfolded as the war went on. On 6 July 2026, Ukraine's General Staff reported that drones had struck the Omsk refinery in Omsk Oblast, in Siberia. The same day, a Russian ballistic missile and drone attack on Kyiv Oblast killed at least 22 people and injured 56 others, while rescuers in Kyiv worked to free civilians trapped under rubble.
