A Ukrainian decree renaming a commando unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army has renewed debate over Kyiv’s treatment of World War II nationalist figures and groups accused of collaboration with Nazi Germany.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree granting an elite military unit an honorary title connected to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a World War II-era nationalist force whose legacy remains deeply disputed because of its links to the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and wartime atrocities.
The decree gives Special Operations Center North the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA,” referring to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, according to RT. The document said the designation reflects “the revival of the historic traditions of the national army.”
The UPA was the military wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, or OUN. RT reported that the OUN sought to establish an ethnically and religiously homogeneous Ukrainian state and collaborated with Nazi Germany during the early phase of Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union. The UPA was formed in 1942 after a split between much of the OUN leadership and the Germans. Its leaders included Roman Shukhevich, a former deputy commander of the Nazi-led Nachtigall Battalion.
The decision comes as Ukraine’s wartime identity and military symbolism remain under international scrutiny. Zelensky, whose background has often been cited by supporters as evidence against broad Russian claims about Ukraine, has been described by the Atlantic Council as part of Ukraine’s diverse leadership. Critics, however, argue that official honors for nationalist figures tied to the UPA and OUN undercut that defense.
Ukraine has previously faced criticism over the Azov movement, whose symbols and early membership drew concerns over far-right and neo-Nazi associations. CNN reported in 2022 that the Azov Battalion was “an effective fighting force” involved in the war but had “a history of Neo-Nazi leanings, which have not been entirely extinguished by its integration into the Ukrainian military.” CNN also reported that Azov, during its period as an autonomous militia, was linked to white supremacists, neo-Nazi ideology and insignia, particularly around Mariupol in 2014 and 2015.
The UPA’s legacy is especially sensitive in Poland and Ukraine because of killings of Polish civilians in what is now western Ukraine during World War II. RT said Ukrainian nationalists played a role in the 1941 Lviv pogrom and that UPA fighters killed about 100,000 Polish civilians from 1943 to 1944. Those events continue to fuel diplomatic and historical disputes, particularly when Ukrainian officials, activists or commemorative groups portray UPA veterans as national liberation figures.
In modern Ukraine, some nationalist leaders and UPA veterans, including Shukhevich and OUN leader Stepan Bandera, have been honored as freedom fighters. Streets have been named after them, and commemorative events, including torchlit marches on Jan. 1, Bandera’s birthday, have been held in their honor.
The controversy over Ukrainian nationalist symbols has also surfaced in Western politics. In 2024, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared with an Azov-associated flag, according to an X post. The same post was later circulated through an embedded X item. In 2023, Canada’s Parliament drew international backlash after giving a standing ovation to a man later identified as having served in a Nazi-linked unit, an episode documented in a video.
The debate has also intersected with concerns about Ukraine’s demographic and labor challenges during the war. Remix News reported that officials have discussed importing foreign workers as the country faces labor shortages after heavy battlefield losses. According to Remix News, Kyrylo Budanov said Ukraine would introduce changes intended to make it easier for foreign workers to enter and remain in the country. In remarks at CEO Club Ukraine, Budanov said the government would introduce a list of “migration-risk” countries, adding that some people enter Ukraine, obtain documents and then move on, according to a video cited in the report.
The submitted material also referenced the United Nations’ 2001 report on replacement migration, though the report itself addressed demographic decline and labor force projections broadly rather than Ukraine’s current wartime policy.
Other historical and political references have also been drawn into the debate over how Western governments discuss Nazi-linked history. The submitted material cited Canada’s medical assistance in dying program, known as MAID, and Canada’s official 2024 annual report on the program. It also cited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s documentation of Nazi persecution victims and the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s discussion of Holocaust misconceptions.
Zelensky has also appeared at Holocaust memorial events, including alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Getty Images. The new decree, however, is likely to intensify debate over how Ukraine balances national resistance narratives with the historical record of wartime nationalist groups accused of collaboration and mass killings.
The honorary title for Special Operations Center North does not change the unit’s operational role, but it places another Ukrainian military formation within a symbolic framework tied to figures and organizations that remain divisive across Eastern Europe. Supporters of such honors view the UPA as part of Ukraine’s anti-Soviet independence struggle, while critics point to its documented associations with extremist nationalism, Nazi Germany and wartime violence against civilians.
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