Polish activists send buses to Ukraine after Bandera street controversy derailed official donation
Polish activists have sent buses to the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia after an earlier plan to donate vehicles from its Polish sister city collapsed amid controversy over a street named after Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera.
The buses were loaded onto transporters and are now on their way to Vinnytsia, Polish activist Beata Chmiel said on Sept. 17.
The initiative began after officials in Vinnytsia withdrew a request for 15 used buses from the Polish city of Kielce in June following objections from Polish politicians over the prospect of the vehicles operating on Bandera Street.
Polish volunteers then launched a crowdfunding campaign to buy buses independently. More than 624,000 złoty was raised from 7,189 donors, according to Chmiel.
The organizers inspected individual vehicles with drivers from Vinnytsia before purchasing them and fitted the buses with new batteries and fire extinguishers ahead of their journey to Ukraine.
“They are going where they were supposed to go,” Chmiel wrote.
Bandera and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army remain a major source of historical tension between Ukraine and Poland. Poland holds Ukrainian nationalist formations responsible for mass killings of Polish civilians during World War II, while Bandera is commemorated by some Ukrainians for his role in the struggle for Ukrainian independence.
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