In the pantheon of collaborators
Ukraine repatriates the remains of Nazi collaborators buried abroad. A special forces unit is to be named after mass murderers. Two Ukrainian Nazi leaders are buried in Munich. Berlin remains silent.
BERLIN/KYIV (own report) – The German government remains silent on the honours repeatedly bestowed in Kyiv upon Ukrainian Nazi collaborators and mass murderers. This silence is all the more shocking because German authorities may soon be actively facilitating further such rites. Last week, the remains of Andriy Melnyk were transferred from Luxembourg to Ukraine, where they were reburied in the presence of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Melnyk was the leader of the OUN(M) (Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists-Melnyk), an organisation of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators, many of whom joined the Waffen-SS Division Galicia. Zelenskyy has recently awarded the title of “Heroes of the UPA” to a unit of the Ukrainian Special Forces. During the Second World War, the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) massacred almost 100,000 Poles and countless Jews. Outrage against this glorification was voiced in Poland and Israel, but no word of criticism came from the German government. Kyiv is now planning to establish what it calls a ‘Pantheon of Outstanding Ukrainians’. To this end it seeks to reinter further Nazi collaborators. Discussions are now underway regarding the transfer of the remains of two such infamous individuals buried in Munich. Such a move requires approval by the German authorities.
‘Heroes of Ukraine’
The official honouring of Nazi collaborators is actually nothing new in Ukraine. It began under the pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko (2005 to 2010), who posthumously declared Roman Shukhevych a “Hero of Ukraine” in 2007 and, likewise, Stepan Bandera in 2010. Shukhevych was one of the commanders of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and continued underground military operations against the Soviet Union after 1945. Bandera was the leader of the OUN(B), a rival organisation to Melnyk’s OUN(M). With the pro-Western coup in Kiev in February 2014, this glorification of Nazi collaborators became increasingly common. In April 2015, the Ukrainian parliament classified members of the OUN and UPA as “fighters for Ukrainian independence”. A parliamentary resolution has since made it illegal to even question the “legitimacy” of their “struggle for Ukraine’s independence”.[1] And the date of the UPA’s foundation, the 14 October, has since become a public holiday. From 2018 the official greeting of the Ukrainian armed forces has been the declaration of “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!” This had been the official greeting of the OUN. The Ukrainian regime’s claim that the salutation is older than the OUN is no less accurate than the assertion that its German equivalent, “Sieg Heil!”, is older than the Nazi Party.
Ukrainian Waffen-SS Division ‘Galicia’
The rehabilitation of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators has recently gained fresh impetus. First, Ukraine arranged the reburial of the remains of Andriy Melnyk, leader of the OUN(M), who died in 1964.[2] Melnyk’s remains were exhumed in Luxembourg on 19 May, brought to Kyiv and buried at the National Military Cemetery near the Ukrainian capital as part of an official state ceremony. Those present included President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyrylo Budanov, who has headed up the Presidential Office since the start of the year. Budanov is said to have been the driving force behind the move.[3] Melnyk and the OUN(M) collaborated closely with the Nazi Reich from its outset in their efforts to break Ukraine away from the Soviet Union and transform it into an authoritarian state modelled on fascism. It was only when, following the invasion of the Soviet Union, they sought to make concrete progress towards establishing a separate Ukrainian state that the Nazi authorities, who opposed such a plan, arrested Melnyk. Members of the OUN(M) played a key role in the formation of the 14th Waffen-Grenadier Division of the SS (‘1st Galician’), known as the Waffen-SS Division Galicia. It was involved in massacres of the Polish population of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, resulting in well over a thousand of deaths.
‘The historical traditions of the armed forces’
However, responsibility for the great majority of the deaths from the ethnic cleansing of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia lies with the UPA. It is estimated that a total of up to 100,000 Polish civilians were murdered between February 1943 and the end of the war. Unlike the Waffen-SS Division Galicia, the UPA drew its members primarily from the OUN(B), including those who had previously participated in pogroms and massacres of the Jewish population in the occupied Soviet Union. One site of the bloodlust was Lemberg (now Lviv) in late June 1941. It was there that OUN militiamen, assisted by the German occupiers, murdered around 4,000 Jews.[4] The massacres of Polish civilians carried out by the UPA from 1943 onwards were intended to create a territory in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia populated exclusively by Ukrainians. The idea was make these regions part of a Ukrainian state to be established after the end of the war. Countless Jews also fell victim to the UPA’s massacres. The Ukrainian militias were key participants in the Shoah. Yet last Tuesday, a decree came into force whereby President Zelenskyy conferred the title ‘Heroes of the UPA’ on a unit of the Ukrainian special forces – an act, he pronounced, that was done “with the aim of reviving the historical traditions of the national armed forces”.[5]
‘Great cause for concern’
The reburial of Melnyk and the official conferral of the title “Heroes of the UPA” on the Special Forces unit have met with some international protest. A statement from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “we regret the decision” to honour the OUN leader Melnyk, “who collaborated with the Nazis”. There should be “no place for ignoring historical truth and the memory of the victims murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators”.[6] The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial stated that Melnyk’s reburial gave “great cause for concern”. “Honouring the leader of a movement that supported Nazi Germany during the persecution and murder of millions of Jews” undermined “the moral integrity” that was “indispensable to the commemoration of the Holocaust”.
‘Deep disapproval’
The renewed glorification of the UPA is also causing great resentment in Poland in particular. On 28 May, the Polish Foreign Ministry expressed “deep disapproval” to the Ukrainian ambassador. On 29 May, the Polish chargé d’affaires in Kyiv reiterated Polish objections during a meeting at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.[7] On the same day the Polish President, Karol Nawrocki, announced that he would ensure that his Ukrainian counterpart Zelenskyy be stripped of the Order of the White Eagle. Zelenskyy had received the Order, the highest honour of the Polish state, in April 2023. The then Polish President Andrzej Duda explained that Zelenskyy was receiving the award as an “exceptional figure” who had “not let his country down during the most difficult phase of Ukrainian history”.[8] It is reported that a decision on the revocation of the order will now be taken in Warsaw next Monday. In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk is now working to smooth things over. Tusk is taking the focus away from the mass crimes of the OUN and the UPA and playing up the idea that Poland and Ukraine have a common enemy, referring to Russia. At the end of last week he argued that if Poles allowed themselves to be drawn into a dispute over “historical emotions”, then Moscow would have cause to celebrate.[9] This had to be avoided.
‘A humiliation’
While protests can be heard from countries where relatives and descendants of the victims of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators live, there has been no reaction from the German government, which prides itself on being Ukraine’s strongest supporter. In this way, Berlin is tolerating the honouring of racist, anti-Semitic mass murderers – and letting down those who have spoken up against this step, such as the Ukrainian Holocaust researcher Marta Havryshko. She described Melnyk’s reburial as “a humiliation for all those who once believed that ‘Never again’ still had any meaning in today’s Ukraine”.[10] It is becoming apparent that German authorities may soon be involved in identical measures. There are reports that the Kyiv government plans to establish a ‘Pantheon of Outstanding Ukrainians’ as “a special place for the consolidation of the Ukrainian people’s values”. To this end, preparations are now to be made for the reburial of the remains of further Ukrainian nationalists. The transfer of the remains of OUN founder Yevhen Konovalets, who is buried in Rotterdam, has for example already been approved.[11] The reburial of Yaroslav Stetsko, who continued to lead the OUN from exile in West Germany after the end of the Second World War is on the wish list, and even the notorious OUN(B) leader Stepan Bandera is conceivable. Stetsko and Bandera are buried at Munich’s Waldfriedhof cemetery. The transfer of their remains will require the approval of the relevant German authorities.
[1] See: Of Perpetrators, Victims and Collaborators (II).
[2] Kate Tsurkan: Remains of 20th century Ukrainian military leader Andrii Melnyk brought to Kyiv for reburial. kyivindependent.com 22.05.2026.
[3] Leonid Ragozin: Melnyk reburial signals ideological shift in Ukraine. intellinews.com 29.05.2026.
[4] See: Of Perpetrators, Victims and Collaborators (II).
[5] Tim Zadorozhnyy: Zelensky’s decision to name military unit after WWII-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army sparks outrage in Poland. kyivindependent.com 29.05.2026.
[6] Nava Freiberg: Israel objects to Ukrainian reburial with state honors of Nazi collaborator. timesofisrael.com 25.05.2026.
[7] MFA Statement. gov.pl 29.05.2026.
[8] Stefan Locke: Aus polnischer Sicht ehrt Selenskyj die Falschen. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 01.06.2026.
[9] Ewan Jones: Poland’s political heavyweights blast Zelenskyy for honoring WWII massacre unit. tvpworld.com 29.05.2026.
[10], [11] Daniel Säwert: Fragwürdige Ehrung. nd-aktuell.de 26.05.2026.
