Putin beordrar styrkor att gå in i Ukraina - INVASION NU (2022-02-24)

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In his interview with Jung, Melnyk dove headlong into this morass of biographical, historical and ethical ambiguity. The ambassador insisted that Bandera was a freedom fighter. He denied Bandera’s role in wartime atrocities. Sure, Melnyk conceded, times were tough. Bandera was caught between two evils, Hitler and Stalin, but his motive — Ukrainian independence — was good. People also love Robin Hood, Melnyk added, and he was a rogue, too.

It wasn’t a good showing, especially for a professional diplomat at a time when his country is at war, its enemies are calling it Nazi, and its closest allies include Poland. The Polish foreign ministry called Melnyk’s performance “absolutely inacceptable.” The Israeli embassy said that his distortions “belittle the Holocaust.”

Even Kyiv realized that something had gone badly wrong. Melnyk’s view of Bandera “does not reflect the position” of Ukraine, the foreign ministry clarified, while emphasizing how grateful it is to Poland for “its unprecedented support in the fight against Russian aggression.” There are rumors that Melnyk will be recalled to Kyiv.