In Poznan, two Poles came to a Ukrainian womanʼs office and provoked her with questions about Bandera. The police found them and detained them
- Author:
- Khrystyna Pitsuriak
- Date:
Kacper Nowicki / Facebook
In Poznan, Poland, two men were detained who came to the office of a Ukrainian woman, filmed her on video, and, according to them, wanted to check whether "her company supports Stepan Bandera".
This is reported by the Polish media Onet.
The police noted that the case is being investigated for defamation and the publication of a recording that could humiliate the victim. The incident occurred on July 3. Two men entered the building of the University of Economics, after which they began talking to a Ukrainian woman who rents one of the offices there. They tried to get inside and "look around" everything there. According to media reports, the men are associated with the far-right KKP party of politician Grzegorz Braun.
Onet writes that the Ukrainian womanʼs company helps with the legalization of foreigners in Poland. The woman did not let the men in, after which she went to the police with a statement of contempt. According to the police, both suspects face fines, restriction of liberty or imprisonment for a term of up to one year. They were also forbidden to approach the woman. They did not admit their guilt.
The victim was Ukrainian Natalia Fedoryak, the owner of the “Prolegalization” company, adds Rzeczpospolitą. The video shows how the Poles claimed that "Ukraine is hostile to Poland", but the woman maintained her composure.
"I was calm because I knew that panic and stress would not help me. This is probably a natural protective reaction — a person knows that he must defend himself, react to the essence and not succumb to any provocations," she explained.
Deterioration of relations between Ukraine and Poland
On May 26, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree awarding the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary title "named after the Heroes of UPA". The document states that this was done "to restore the historical traditions of the national army".
This decision by the Ukrainian president caused outrage among Poles. And on June 19, incumbent President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Polandʼs highest state award, which he had been awarded by former Polish President Andrzej Duda. Zelensky later sent his order to Poland via “Nova Post”.
After that, three former Ukrainian presidents: Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko, as well as other Ukrainian high-ranking officials, refused the order. In addition, former deputy of the Polish Sejm Piotr Vogler refused the Golden Cross of Merit.
At the same time, Polish politicians began to refuse Ukrainian state awards. In particular, this decision was announced by former Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak and former Polish Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński. And former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki “as a sign of protest” transferred the Ukrainian Order of Yaroslav the Wise to the Museum of Memory of the Victims of the Volyn Tragedy in Chelm, Poland.
On July 3, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, at a meeting with his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski, offered Poland a "package of anti-crisis steps" to regulate relations between the countries. These include consultations between the foreign ministries, a meeting of historians studying World War II, and the involvement of religious leaders of the countries in the dialogue.
On July 8, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Zelensky met with Nawrocki. This was their first known communication after Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle. The meeting lasted for over an hour.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.