{"id":1381278,"date":"2026-06-03T16:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/?p=1381278"},"modified":"2026-06-03T11:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T08:34:18","slug":"sybiha-responds-to-polish-criticism-over-heroes-of-the-upa-unit-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/sybiha-responds-to-polish-criticism-over-heroes-of-the-upa-unit-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Sybiha Responds to Polish Criticism Over \u201cHeroes of the UPA\u201d Unit Name"},"content":{"rendered":" <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has responded to criticism from Poland over President Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s decision to grant the honorary title \u201cHeroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army\u201d to the Separate Special Operations Center \u201cNorth\u201d of Ukraine\u2019s Special Operations Forces.<\/p>\n   <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100050711722604\/posts\/1539089164458126\/?rdid=9A4ar2Hh5Hx0TYSz\">Facebook<\/a>, Sybiha stressed that the unit\u2019s servicemen chose the name themselves and emphasized that Ukrainian defenders \u201cdeserve unconditional respect\u201d, <a href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/\">UATV English <\/a>reports.<\/p>\n    <blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday, it is they who, at the cost of their health and often their lives, hold the front line and defend all of Europe from the Russian threat. They are paying the highest price for it. I know for certain that our military had absolutely no anti-Polish intentions. For them, it was about honoring those who, many years ago, also fought against imperial Moscow, Bolshevik-communist occupation, and repression,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n   <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sybiha noted that Ukraine, like Poland, had to fight hard for its independence.<\/p>\n    <blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are grateful to Poland for its leadership in supporting Ukraine during this terrible war. We seek to discuss all issues, including the most difficult ones, in a spirit of mutual understanding and openness. We call for dialogue and for strengthening our relations in line with the priorities of security and a prosperous future for our states,\u201d the minister added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n   <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also pointed to the \u201cconstructive dialogue\u201d that Ukraine and Poland have built in recent years.<\/p>\n    <blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt must not be undermined or turned into a spiral of hatred. Especially at a time when all of us \u2014 Ukrainians, Poles, and other Europeans \u2014 once again face a threat from our historic enemy, Russia,\u201d Sybiha stressed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n   <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The foreign minister called for lowering tensions, leaving historical disputes to professional historians, and focusing instead on \u201ccountering our common enemy, strengthening European security, and protecting the free future of our nations.\u201d<\/p>\n   <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier, Marcin Przydacz said that Zelenskyy should apologize to Karol Nawrocki over the naming decision. Reports also suggested that Nawrocki may seek to have Zelenskyy stripped of Poland\u2019s highest state award because of the move.<\/p>\n   <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Read also:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/sybiha-ukraine-s-nato-membership-would-strengthen-europe-s-security-and-reduce-costs\/\">Sybiha: Ukraine\u2019s NATO membership would strengthen Europe\u2019s security and reduce costs<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has responded to criticism from Poland over &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":1313797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,49,36415,36422,55],"tags":[76,78,72926],"sources":[],"class_list":["post-1381278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-news-en","category-11473-news-en","category-11473-news-en-3","category-ukraine-en","tag-glavnoe-en","tag-homepage-en","tag-ukraine-s-allies-aid"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sybiha Responds to Polish Criticism Over \u201cHeroes of the UPA\u201d Unit Name - Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/sybiha-responds-to-polish-criticism-over-heroes-of-the-upa-unit-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sybiha Responds to Polish Criticism Over \u201cHeroes of the UPA\u201d Unit Name - Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has responded to criticism from Poland over ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/sybiha-responds-to-polish-criticism-over-heroes-of-the-upa-unit-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-03T13:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/sybyga_1300x750-820x473.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Danylo Shportilo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Danylo Shportilo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uatv.ua\\\/en\\\/sybiha-responds-to-polish-criticism-over-heroes-of-the-upa-unit-name\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uatv.ua\\\/en\\\/sybiha-responds-to-polish-criticism-over-heroes-of-the-upa-unit-name\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Danylo Shportilo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uatv.ua\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f4fe8d6d08deebcdee69f6671576d2d2\"},\"headline\":\"Sybiha Responds to Polish Criticism Over \u201cHeroes of the UPA\u201d Unit Name\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-03T13:20:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uatv.ua\\\/en\\\/sybiha-responds-to-polish-criticism-over-heroes-of-the-upa-unit-name\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":360,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uatv.ua\\\/en\\\/sybiha-responds-to-polish-criticism-over-heroes-of-the-upa-unit-name\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uatv.ua\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/sybyga_1300x750.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0435\",\"\u041d\u0430 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0443\u044e (\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0434\u0435\u0440)\",\"Ukraine\u2019s Allies &amp; 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