Ukraine accused the Soviet Union of starting WWII
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Polish Sejm have adopted a joint declaration of memory and solidarity. According to information on the parliament’s website, 243 deputies voted in favor, including one representative from the “opposition bloc.” The only deputy who voted against it was a member of the “Radical Party.”
Introducing the document, the chairman of the parliament, Andriy Parubiy, stated that the Polish Sejm will vote for the same document at the same time as the Ukrainian parliament, and that this declaration is a response to “Russian aggression” against Ukraine, Poland and the entire Western world.
The declaration emphasized that both countries have experienced the tragedy of Russia’s “imperial policy,” in particular due to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which led to the outbreak of the Second World War and the occupation of Poland.
The document also condemns “the current occupation of the territories of Ukraine by Russia and stresses the need to fight for their liberation.”
Previously, it was assumed that the Lithuanian parliament would also simultaneously vote on this document; however, according to the head of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Hanna Hopko, the term of the current Sejm has ended, and the new elected one will start its work in the second half of December.
Hopko also stated that the adoption of this document will positively affect the further development of EU policy towards Russia.
In turn, the ex-foreign minister, MP from the Batkivschyna (Fatherland), Borys Tarasyuk, said that this declaration will neutralize the decree on the Volyn massacre approved by Polish authorities in July.
On July 22, the Polish Sejm adopted a resolution which made July 11 the National Day of Remembrance for victims of the genocide committed against the citizens of Poland during the Second World War.
On September 8, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine also adopted the Polish parliament’s decree on the Volyn tragedy, condemning the unilateral actions of the Senate and Sejm.
Between 1943 and 1944 in Volhynia and eastern Galicia, murders of civilians were committed by the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army). Poland argues that between 100,000 and 130,000 Poles and 5,000 to 10,000 Ukrainians were killed as a result of ethnic cleansing. At the same time, Ukraine references tens of thousands of Poles and more than 10,000 Ukrainians killed.
It should also be noted that a significant part of the territory of Poland occupied in 1939 by the Soviet Union is now part of Ukraine.