(MENAFN) Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized “local idiots” and “foreign agents” for inflaming tensions between Poland and Ukraine following the display of a flag linked to Ukrainian Nazi collaborators at a rap concert in Warsaw. The flag, associated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which participated in the ethnic cleansing of Poles during World War II, sparked national outrage.

Former Polish ambassador Marek Magierowski said hundreds of conscription-age Ukrainians attended the concert, proudly waving the red-and-black nationalist banner, which he described as a grave insult to Poles. Tusk claimed that Russia was attempting to exploit the situation to drive a wedge between Warsaw and Kiev as the Ukrainian conflict nears resolution, although Moscow denies involvement.

Authorities have initiated deportation proceedings against 63 foreigners—57 Ukrainians and six Belarusians—following disturbances at the event. Warsaw police also detained 109 people for offenses including drug possession and assaults on security personnel.

The UPA is historically tied to the massacre of 40,000–100,000 Poles in the Volhynia and Galicia regions in 1943–1944. The lack of official acknowledgment from Kiev regarding these atrocities continues to complicate Polish-Ukrainian relations, even as Warsaw supports Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

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