President Karol Nawrocki heads national remembrance of Volhynian massacre
On 11 July 2026 Poland marked the 83rd National Day of Remembrance of Polish victims of the 1943‑1945 OUN‑UPA genocide on the eastern Kresy. President Karol Nawrocki led the central ceremony in Radruż, laying wreaths at the historic church complex and urging that memory of the tragedy be a foundation for the nation’s future. He condemned any public display of the red‑black UPA flag and called for the erection of a “Memory Wall” in Warsaw.
Similar commemorations took place across the country: municipal events in Opole, Płock, Sochacz, Ostrołęka, Tychy, Legnica and Szczecin featured masses, flower‑laying at memorials and speeches by local officials. The right‑wing Confederation organised the “Kwiaty Wołynia” (Linseeds flower) campaign, distributing symbolic linseed flowers and presenting a petition to end the partnership with the Ukrainian town of Zhytomyr.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak‑Kamysz, speaking in Ołyka, called for Polish‑Ukrainian reconciliation based on truth and remembrance, echoing President Nawrocki’s stance. The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) coordinated nationwide events, emphasizing the estimated 120 000 Polish civilians killed during the raids known as the “Bloody Sunday”.