The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, known as the UPA, is viewed by many Ukrainians as a symbol of resistance to Soviet rule, but in Poland it is chiefly associated with the World War II-era Volhynia massacres, in which tens of thousands of Polish civilians were killed. Poland officially recognises these massacres as genocide, a characterization that Ukraine disputes, framing them instead as part of a broader, mutually violent wartime conflict. The controversy comes as Ukraine has agreed to allow renewed exhumation work at sites in western Ukraine — including, according to Polish media, two villages where some 1,000 civilians were killed on 30 August 1943 — a key demand in long-running discussions over historical reconciliation. Magdalena Biejat, deputy speaker of the Polish Senate and a lawmaker from The Left, said in an interview with Slawa TV, a Ukrainian-language sister channel to TVP World run by Polish public broadcaster TVP, that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made “a diplomatic mistake,” arguing that the move would provoke nationalist circles in Poland and harm bilateral relations.