25 years ago Pope John Paul II started apostolic visit to Ukraine. As a Pole who experienced all travails of modern Polish history Saint John Paul II understood perfectly well why it’s crucial to support reborn 🇺🇦 May his wisdom be a guidance for current Polish 🇵🇱 politicians.
Russia must agree to peace immediately, or else it will be too late – Dan Negrea, US representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The situation for Moscow is deteriorating rapidly.
Efforts are currently underway in Kryvyi Rih to deal with the aftermath of the Russian missile strike on the city. The Russians targeted civilian infrastructure. First responders have already extinguished the fire. As of now, tragically, three people have been reported killed. My condolences to their families and loved ones. More than 20 people have been wounded. Three of them are in serious condition. Everyone is receiving the necessary assistance.
Every such day and every Russian strike prove that the pressure on the aggressor over this war is insufficient. They also prove that every delay in implementing air defense agreements, any delay in supplies needed to protect Ukraine and Ukrainians, effectively costs lives. It is important that the world not remain silent about the fact that Russia has still taken no real step toward ending this war. To all our proposals for diplomacy, meetings, and steps toward peace, we have received no clear response from the Russians. Pressure is needed. Pressure on Russia, so that the situation changes for the better. Thank you to everyone who is helping!
@VsimPohuy In discussions about what happened 80 yrs ago, I prefer to think about what happened 105 years ago, when the Ukrainian People's Republic and Poland both fought the Soviets.
However, a peasant from Bialystok said to me, "But that was so long ago, nobody remembers."
And just to add - it's a legitimate debate for which Ukrainians (unlike Polish people) currently don't have time or resources because they are busy defending their country from 130 million rapists
Polish people know perfectly well that Ukrainian rememberance of UPA has nothing to do with them or with Volyn tragedy or with Nazis. In Ukrainian culture it is first and foremost symbol of the only real armed resistance against soviet occupation of Ukraine which killed, tortured and raped millions of Ukrainians.
Most significant historical figures of the past have dark sides. American founding fathers were slave owners, Napoleon commited numerous mass murders and engaged in wars resulting in deaths of millions, Winston Churchill could be one to blame in deaths of millions of indians during Bengal famine. All of them are praised in their countries and all around the world nethertheless. Not for the killings and death but for the other deeds.
It is not that important today if Napoleon's name is all around in Paris, it is important that France is not commiting genocides in Middle East and British are not trying to subjugate Indian people. In their culture, and in their minds those are the symbols of nation building and not crimes they commited along the way.
Similarly modern Ukrainian people have never been hostile to Poland or Polish people. Every poll, every act was always friendly as much as it was possible. And that UPA-named unit is not a "nazi militia", it is an AFU unit operating under Ukrainian and international law and doing the hardest work ever - protecting Ukraine (and Poland) from Russian murderers.
Poland on the contrary have turned around quite a bit and in the last couple of years blocked Ukrainian borders several times resulting in logistical problems and problems on the frontline (it means someone died because of that), poured Ukrainian grain on the ground all while Polish people are constantly involved in discriminatory attacks against Ukrainians in Poland. One can google those attacks and see at least several arrests only this year and hundreds or thousands of reports of bullying and phisical acts. Any Ukrainian who lived in Poland not only now but 10-15 years ago (me) will tell you numerous stories of Polish bigotry and aggression towards Ukrainians. All of that resulted in election of anti-Ukrainian president whose whole platform was built on anti-Ukrainianism. All of that happened before Zelensky's UPA decree.
There should be a debate on UPA's hitorical role, their collaboration with the Nazis or their acts of violence against the Poles. But it is still an internal debate of Ukrainian people (who are not nazis and like Polish people a lot). And Poland should be welcome to contribute to this debate if it is doing so in a good will and for a good reason. It just feels that it's not a good one
💔 This is what childhood looks like in Ukraine: children are playing next to the impact site left by a Russian guided bomb strike on the Palace of Children’s Creativity in Zaporizhzhia.
📹 zprezonans via Telegram
In June 1994, in Podkowa Leśna near Warsaw, during an international seminar, the last Commander-in-Chief of the UPA, Vasyl Kuk, shook hands with Titusz Kołakowski, a representative of the veterans of the 27th Volhynian Division of the AK.
These were men who had actually fought against one another. Yet they found the wisdom and courage to leave the past behind and help build a peaceful future.
And yet today, in Poland, there are public figures who, for self-serving purposes, are willing to reopen old wounds, divide their own society, and undermine a neighboring nation that is fighting for its very survival.
Overnight, Russia attacked a Türkiye-owned dry cargo vessel in the Black Sea. And it did so right after a high-level Turkish visit to Russia.
A clear demonstration that Russia’s words cannot be trusted. Russia remains the main threat to the Black Sea security and prosperity.
@UA_NAVY rescued the crew, Turkish and Indian nationals. Unfortunately, one Egyptian crew member was killed in this attack.
Russia also attacked other two vessels under flags of Palau and Belize, they have been damaged, but their crews unharmed.
We are informing all states and organisations about this brazen attack on international law and freedom of navigation. It requires strong and principled responses from the international community and the International Maritime Organisation.
Today, as every year on June 22, there will be a lot of grandstanding in Russia about World War II, about one of its bloodiest chapters – Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union. A time that for Ukraine has always been a reminder of the importance of peace and of paying tribute to millions of innocent victims of World War II. This was the very period in the 20th century that should have forever changed the way every state and the world as a whole view human life – establishing life itself as the true highest value. There would have been no world wars if the leaders of that era had been guided by the value of human life rather than their imperial delusions.
Yet today, Russia began this day not by honoring those who fell in World War II, and not with signals that could help bring the current war – Russia’s war against Ukraine – closer to an end. Instead, it began with more completely unjustifiable killings. In the Sumy region, a Russian drone killed a child, a grandmother, and a man. The mother and two other children from the same family were wounded. Their home was destroyed. An ordinary home – not a military target whatsoever. In Zaporizhzhia, two people were killed overnight by Russian strikes, and seven others were injured. Tragically, the Odesa region has also seen lives lost. Strikes were carried out against the Kherson, Donetsk, and Kharkiv regions. Once again, Russia targeted energy infrastructure in the Chernihiv region.
This Russian war has no justifiable cause. Putin was driven by exactly the same motives as the aggressors who came before him. He shows the same contempt for human life. He is just as delusional about this absurd “empire” of his that nobody needs. This war must be brought to an end. It has been taking people's lives for nearly five years now. This full-scale war has already lasted longer than World War I. Perhaps Russia wants to wait until it has lasted longer than World War II as well. But the world certainly does not want that, and it certainly has the power to prevent it. There must be pressure on Putin, pressure on Russia, so that all of this ends in a dignified peace and with real, guaranteed protection for human life. Ukraine has put forward every proposal needed for diplomacy. Through our collective pressure on the aggressor, we must bring Russia to a point where it has no option left but diplomacy and ending the war. Thank you to everyone helping us defend Ukraine. Thank you to everyone helping us protect human life.
Russia is recruiting Africans for troll farms and influence ops targeting Europe. From fake accounts spreading division in the Netherlands to amplifying migration fears and anti-EU sentiment, Moscow is weaponising African labour for its hybrid war.
У підручниках будуть писати, що коли Україна воювала проти росії, Європа підтримувала Україну, а поляк висипав українське зерно, блокував кордон і встав ніж у спину українців
Московія нищила Польщу, трощила її, ділила, знищила під Смоленськом всю еліту Польщі і у поляків ніяких запитань до московітів. Німеччина окуповувала Польщу, ділила і поляки їздять на заробітки у Німеччину і мовчать. Зараз Україна стікає кров'ю вже як 5 рік і Польща ножа в спину.
Хто би як не ставився до президента України Леоніда Кучми, але вчора він видав базу: "Не для того Україна прийняла бій від росії, яка обґрунтовувала своє вторгнення історичними претензіями, щоб сьогодні вже інші країни диктували нам нашу історію та визначали, кого нам шанувати".
Oprócz myślenia, co z Polakami zabitymi na Wołyniu, proponuję pomyśleć, co zrobić, żeby nigdy więcej zabitych Polaków nie było. Bo obecnie w atmosferze antyunijnej i antyukraińskiej, a za to świadomie lub nieświadomie prorosyjskiej, nie zmniejszany tego ryzyka.
Czytam komentarze po decyzji "pana prezydenta" @NawrockiKn w wiadomej sprawie.
Czytam, że nawet osoby, które nie są zwolennikami Nawrockiego, rozumieją jego decyzję. Wirtualna Polska publikuje sondaż, z którego wynika, że większość Polek i Polaków popiera tę decyzję.
Sondaże zostawmy na boku, ich wiarygodność jest co najmniej wątpliwa. Każdy sondaż można ukształtować, jak się chce. To kwestia pytań, metodyki badania i liczenia.
Ale zastanawiają mnie komentarze osób o poglądach liberalnych. Te mnie najbardziej zaskakują. Osoby te piszą: "nie popieram Nawrockiego, ale go rozumiem".
Taki komentarz świadczy o kompletnym niezrozumieniu historii, zwłaszcza historii polsko-ukraińskiej, która od wieków jest bardzo trudna i nie ma w niej tylko jednego winnego i tylko jednego niewinnego.
Mało kto wie, że ta wspólna historia sięga początków państwa polskiego i wtedy relacje te były bardzo przyjazne.
Rzeź Wołyńska nie wzięła się znikąd. Nie była jedynie efektem ukraińskiego nacjonalizmu, była też efektem nacjonalizmu polskiego. Tak, po polskiej stronie jest więcej ofiar, ale i po ukraińskiej stronie są także ofiary. Tak samo całe rodziny, kobiety, dzieci. Cywile.
My, Polki i Polacy, nauczyliśmy się patrzeć na historię jednostronnie, wyłącznie z perspektywy naszych krzywd, zapominając, że polscy władcy i polscy przywódcy wcale nie byli aniołami.
Ale to jest wiedza niewygodna, która nie pasuje do narracji Polski - Chrystusa narodów.
Dla Ukraińców UPA to przede wszystkim organizacja walcząca z ruskim najeźdźcą. Dziś, gdy na Ukrainie trwa od 4 lat pełnoskalowa wojna, ta pamięć jest dla nich bezcenna. Gdyby u nas trwała taka wojna, też patrzylibyśmy na to, co dla nas jest najważniejsze.
A polscy politycy? "Pan prezydent" i jego polityczne środowisko powinni patrzeć na tę trudną historię szerzej, nie doraźnie, wyłącznie w celach politycznych, bo nie mam żadnych wątpliwości, że decyzja ta ma wyłącznie doraźny, polityczny charakter.
I nie rozumiem, jak rozumni ludzie mogą się na ten lep łapać.
Dziękuję za uwagę.