Israel calls OUN leader a collaborator and condemns his reburial in Ukraine

Ukraine’s leadership sings the national anthem during Melnyk’s reburial ceremony. Photo: Zelensky’s Facebook page

Israel has officially condemned the reburial of Andriy Melnyk in Ukraine, describing him as a Nazi collaborator.

“We regret the decision to hold an official state reburial ceremony for OUN leader Andriy Melnyk, who collaborated with the Nazis. There is no place for ignoring historical truth and the memory of the victims murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators,” Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

The memorial complex Yad Vashem also stressed that Melnyk’s reburial “raises serious concerns.”

“The reinterment of Andriy Melnyk for a state burial in Ukraine raises serious concerns. Honoring the leader of a movement that supported and collaborated with Nazi Germany during the persecution and murder of millions of Jews undermines the moral integrity essential to Holocaust remembrance. Yad Vashem is deeply troubled by such national commemorations, which come at the expense of historical truth and the memory of Holocaust victims,” the organization said.

Melnyk’s reburial took place on May 25, 2026, in the Kyiv region in the presence of the country’s top leadership. In his speech, Volodymyr Zelensky called Melnyk “a hero.”

Before the burial, a memorial litia for Melnyk was served by Yevstratiy Zoria, along with clergy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Ukrainian rabbis and Jewish organizations did not publicly comment on the reburial of the OUN (M) leader.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the remains of Andriy Melnyk had been brought to the cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Kyiv.

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