Russia publishes files on WWII Ukrainian massacre of Poles amid dispute between Kyiv and Warsaw
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Russia’s security services have published purported archival documents relating to massacres of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists during World War Two. The release comes in the midst of a diplomatic dispute between Kyiv and Warsaw over the issue.
Ukraine had warned in advance that Russia was planning to release the files in order to stir tensions. Since their publication, Polish media have noted that the material contains nothing new and that at least one part includes false information.
⚡️russian fsb is preparing a provocation using fake documents to drive a wedge between Ukraine and Poland. According to available information, russian FSB agents plan to release fabricated “documents” on July 5 regarding events of World War II, specifically the Volhynia tragedy. On Saturday morning, Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, warned that Alexander Bortnikov, the director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), had been placed “in charge of Russia’s information operations aimed at dividing Poland and Ukraine”.
“FSB officers are planning to release falsified documents about the events of World War Two, namely the Volhynia tragedy, in an attempt to undermine Ukrainian-Polish relations,” added Kovalenko. “Russian state media is tasked with spreading this story.”
Subsequently, the FSB indeed published what it said were historical documents relating to Ukraine during the war, including a claimed eyewitness account of “the mass extermination of the Polish population” by “supporters of [Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan] Bandera”.
In its statement, the FSB referred to the massacres as “the genocide of Poles in Volhynia”, echoing a term used by Poland, which officially recognises the massacres as a genocide, a term strongly rejected by Ukraine.
During the so-called Volhynia massacres , Ukrainian nationalists killed around 100,000 ethnic Polish civilians, mostly women and children, often with great brutality.
The issue has long caused tensions between Poland and Ukraine. That has escalated into a major crisis in recent weeks, after President Volodymyr Zelensky named a military unit after the “heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)”, the group that was primarily responsible for the massacres.
That in turn prompted an angry response from Poland, whose president, Karol Nawrocki, stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest honour.
Long-simmering tensions between Poland and Ukraine over WWII massacres have finally boiled over, prompting a diplomatic crisis. @danieltilles1 looks at how we got here and what it may mean for the two countries and Europe more broadly The files now released by the FSB relate in particular to UPA commander Dmytro Klyachkivsky. He is regarded as one of the primary driving forces behind the Volhynia massacres. Poland’s state Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) calls Klyachkivsky “the main perpetrator of the Volhynia genocide”.
As Kovalenko had predicted, Russian state media, such as broadcaster RT and press agency TASS, publicised the release of the files. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also sought to use them to drive a wedge between Poland and Ukraine.
“Now, with all the details, we see whom Warsaw is supplying weapons to – the followers of the killers of their own ancestors,” she said, cited by TASS.
Ukraine has proposed an "anti-crisis package" to resolve its dispute with Poland Warsaw welcomed the "deescalation" but says it still expects clear action, including a "correction" of the decision to name a military unit after a group that massacred Poles By contrast, Ukrainska Pravda, a leading Ukrainian news website, declared that Russia had released “fake Volyn [Volhynia] documents”, though its report did not specify in what sense the material was false.
“Russian propaganda is deliberately using manipulative terminology to provoke a strong emotional reaction in Polish society,” wrote Ukrainska Pravda. “Russia is exploiting painful historical issues in an attempt to artificially fuel hostility between Ukraine and Poland.”
However, Russia’s release of materials was met with a mixture of scepticism and ridicule in Poland. “What was supposed to be a bombshell turned out to be a dud,” headlined state broadcaster TVP, noting that the files, even if genuine, continued “nothing new”.
Likewise, Damian Markowski, a historian at the Pilecki Institute, a state research body, told news website Onet that the files contain “no bombshell”.
🔴 Kapiszon z FSB. Rosjanie opublikowali "odtajnione dokumenty" ws. UPA Rosyjska agencja TASS i prokremlowska Russia Today opublikowały w niedzielę "odtajnione dokumenty FSB", dotyczące Dmytro Klaczkiwskiego ps. "Kłym Sawur". Człowiek ten uważany jest przez większość historyków… Meanwhile, Historia.org.pl, a leading Polish history website, notes that part of the material contained in the FSB report was already released two years ago by Russia and was dismissed as unreliable at the time by experts.
The FSB refers to an eyewitness account of the “mass extermination of the Polish population living in the city of Vladimir-Volynsk”, where “Bandera supporters killed 11 priests and up to 2,000 Poles on the streets”.
However, leading Polish historians who spoke to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) in 2024 about that alleged testimony noted that no such massacre took place in Vladimir-Volynsk.
Poland’s government has published a list of ten lies told by Vladimir Putin during his interview with Tucker Carlson, in particular regarding Polish and Ukrainian history. The speaker of Poland's parliament said Carlson had acted as Putin's "useful idiot" Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Igor Smirnow/KPRP
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland . He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy , POLITICO Europe , EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna .