Polish President Andrzej Duda commemorated the soldiers of the 1917-1921 Ukrainian People's Republic, who died fighting against the Bolsheviks, at the Orthodox cemetery in Warsaw, Duda's office reported on Aug. 14.
"At the Orthodox cemetery in Wola, President Andrzej Duda laid a wreath at the memorial to the Soldiers of the Ukrainian People's Republic," the presidential office announced on Twitter.
The Ukrainian People's Republic was established in the wake of the Russian Empire's collapse in 1917. In 1920, the republic's leadership allied with the new Polish state against the Red Army, with Ukrainian soldiers taking part in the battle of Warsaw that landed a decisive blow to the Bolshevik troops.
However, the young Ukrainian state did not manage to preserve its independence and Ukraine was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union in 1921.
On July 9, Duda and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky commemorated the victims of the 1943 Volyn (Volhynia) Massacre during their surprise visit to Lutsk, a regional capital in northwestern Ukraine.
Daria Shulzhenko
