The Ukrainian flag has been removed from the city hall in Lublin in eastern Poland following Ukraine's decision to name a Special Operations Forces unit after the "Heroes of the UPA" (the Ukrainian Insurgent Army).
That is according to TVP World, Ukrinform reports.
The Ukrainian flag had flown above Lublin alongside those of Poland, and the EU since 2022, when it was raised as a gesture of solidarity following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, the blue-and-yellow flag was pulled down sometime between Friday and Saturday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree granting the honorary title "Heroes of the UPA" to the Independent Special Operations Center "North" of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces.
Lublin city officials said that the decision to remove the flag was "directly related" to Zelensky's recent decree.
"The glorification of formations responsible for crimes against civilians harms the historical memory of our nation, wounds the memory of Polish victims, and makes it harder to build a sincere dialogue between our countries," the city said in a statement to Polish news outlet Interia.
