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What did Duda and Zelenskyy do in Lutsk?
Summary
A look back at the joint commemoration in Lutsk on 9 July 2023, and at diplomatic and security developments in the days before it.
What did the presidents of Poland and Ukraine do together in Lutsk? On 9 July 2023, Andrzej Duda, President of Poland, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, commemorated the victims of the 1943 massacres in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. The ceremony was held at the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral in Lutsk, in western Ukraine, and was part of Poland–Ukraine relations at the time.
The days before
The commemoration followed a week in which Kyiv dealt with pressure on several fronts.
On 3 July 2023, Russia launched drone attacks on Sumy, killing two people and injuring 19 others. In response, Zelenskyy called for a major upgrade of Ukraine's anti-aircraft defences.
The same day, Zelenskyy asked the Georgian ambassador, Gela Dumbadze, to return home within 48 hours. The purpose was to negotiate the transfer of the imprisoned former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is also a Ukrainian citizen, to a Ukrainian clinic because of his declining health.
Why the Lutsk ceremony stood out
Against that backdrop, the joint appearance of the two presidents at a memorial for the victims of the 1943 killings placed the shared remembrance of those events at the centre of Polish–Ukrainian relations on 9 July 2023.
