A Polish man in Łódź beat a passerby he thought was Ukrainian. The victim was Polish. Police are now searching for the attacker, who approached a local resident talking on the phone near the city center on 11 July, struck him, and told him his place was not in Poland, Polish broadcaster RMF24 reports.
Polish support for taking in Ukrainian refugees has fallen from 94% in March 2022 to 48% by early 2026, with 46% opposed — the highest opposition since the invasion began, per Euromaidan Press reporting.
Victim was hospitalized
The victim's account indicates the attacker took him for a Ukrainian, Łódź police spokesperson Maksymilian Jasiak said.
The man was hit at least twice in the head and hospitalized with a broken nose and jaw injuries. He filed a police report the next day. Officers have seized CCTV footage. The legal classification of the crime and the attacker's motive will be determined after his arrest.
Beating happened on Volyn anniversary
The assault took place on 11 July, the anniversary of the 1943 Volhynia massacres, and the date Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov had named days earlier as the trigger for the hardest phase of the Poland-Ukraine rupture.
The rupture began on 26 May, when Zelenskyy signed a decree naming a special operations unit "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA)
UPA is a contested figure in Polish-Ukrainian historical memory. Ukrainian historiography presents UPA as anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi independence fighters. Polish historiography emphasizes UPA's association with the 1943-44 Volhynia massacres.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest honor, amid the clash. Zelenskyy returned it by post, and former Ukrainian presidents renounced theirs.
Poland and Ukraine’s memory war has spilled into the streets. Its consequences might be disastrous.
Polish sentiment has turned violent before
Earlier, on a Warsaw bridge in May 2026, a 16-year-old Ukrainian refugee, Artem, had his skull fractured. He had fled Russian missiles in Zaporizhzhia. Weeks later, Lublin's city hall took down the Ukrainian flag.
Poland's General Staff has reported large-scale Russian operations aimed at undermining Polish-Ukrainian ties, creating an atmosphere of fear and anxiety about Ukrainian claims in Poland. Anti-Ukrainian messaging in Poland's information space doubled between August and November 2025 compared with the same period a year earlier.
Poland is the main hub for weapons reaching Ukraine. Breaking the two countries apart has been a Russian objective since 2022.
