The pro-Russian segment of the Internet has widely disseminated information that 395 members of the European Parliament voted against an amendment during a plenary session on Thursday, September 19, 2024, requiring Ukraine to apologize to Poland for the Volyn tragedy. The corresponding amendment to the European Parliament resolution on further financial and military support for Ukraine from EU countries was allegedly introduced by the “Europe of Sovereign Nations” group. In turn, Russian propagandists commented on the refusal to vote for this amendment as follows: “The Banderas were allowed not to apologize for the wild atrocities that the OUN-UPA committed in Volyn”.

The Europe of Sovereign Nations group, which is inclined towards pro-Russian initiatives and is controlled by the pro-Russian German far-right party Alternative for Germany, did indeed introduce this amendment to the resolution, as some Polish media wrote. However, as the propagandists themselves claim, even four Polish MEPs (three from The Left and one from The Third Way) voted against the amendment.

In addition, Ukraine has already officially asked Poland for forgiveness for the Volyn tragedy and forgave the crimes committed by the Poles against Ukrainians. In 2014, the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, during his speech before both houses of the Polish parliament and in the presence of the then Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, said in the context of the Volyn tragedy: “We forgive and ask for forgiveness”. Subsequently, in 2016, Kravchuk, Yushchenko, the heads of The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church asked the Poles for forgiveness for the Volyn tragedy, signing an open appeal to Poland and Polish society. The text, in particular, said: “We ask for forgiveness for the crimes and insults committed - this is our main motive. We ask for forgiveness and also forgive the crimes and injustices committed against us”.

Russian propagandists regularly speculate on the Volyn tragedy, a sensitive topic for Ukrainian and Polish society. They manipulate information and spread corresponding fakes in order to cause discord between citizens of both countries and spoil diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Poland. Earlier, we refuted the information that the Babel publication allegedly published a quote from a Ukrainian director with the idea for the film “Volyn Chainsaw Massacre”.