Graffiti at Warsaw’s Ghetto Heroes Monument prompted Ukraine’s Embassy in Poland to allege Russian hybrid warfare, while police investigated damage at two sites amid the countries’ fraught wartime history.
Polish media reported that the Nov. 14 graffiti was found at two locations: Warsaw’s Monument to the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto, beside POLIN, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and a separate memorial honoring a soldier of the 1st Polish Army. The slogan means “Glory to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.” The embassy’s statement addressed the Ghetto Heroes Monument; its scope regarding the second site was unclear.
The embassy portrayed the act as part of Russia’s campaign in Europe and said it was intended to harm Ukrainian-Polish relations, erode mutual trust and weaken support for Ukraine. It also urged Ukrainians living in Poland to reject offers of “easy money” for graffiti, property damage or other illegal tasks. The statement did not cite evidence linking the perpetrators to Russia, and Polish reports had not named suspects.
The slogan refers to a wartime force with sharply different portrayals in the two countries. Ukraine’s Institute of National Memory describes the Ukrainian Insurgent Army as part of the country’s liberation movement, which sought to restore Ukrainian statehood. Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance says the UPA and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists-Bandera faction killed Poles from 1943 to 1945, and estimates about 100,000 Poles were killed.
Warsaw police were conducting preliminary investigative work, including forensic examination, and seeking those responsible, Radio ZET reported, citing the Polish Press Agency.
