At least 16 Polish citizens have been confirmed to have been killed during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. 13 of them were fighting in Ukraine as part of the International Legion, two were civilians who were killed when a Ukrainian air defense missile lost control and hit the Polish village of Przewodów [1] and one was killed in Ukraine while working as a volunteer aid worker. [2]
The following list contains 13 servicemen listed as killed among the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Date of death | Name | Age | Location of death |
---|---|---|---|
July 24, 2022 | Tomasz Walentek | N/A | Izyum district [3] |
September 17, 2022 | Marian Matusz | 30 | Undisclosed [4] |
November 10, 2022 | Undisclosed (from Gdańsk) | N/A | Eastern Ukraine [5] |
December 4, 2022 | Janusz Szeremeta | N/A | Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast [6] [7] |
December 11, 2022 | Daniel Shtiber | 35 | Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast [8] |
March 21, 2023 | Paweł Szadzikowski | N/A | Undisclosed [9] |
March 25, 2023 | Michal Pavinski | N/A | Undisclosed [10] |
March 25, 2023 | Michał Żurek | 45 | Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast [11] [12] |
April 12, 2023 | Krzysztof Tyfel | 33 | Near Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast [13] |
May 9, 2023 | Czarek Stankiewicz | 56 | Undisclosed [14] |
September 6, 2023 | Maciej Bednarski | 49 | In a hospital in Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast [15] [16] |
December 4, 2023 | Nikolay Myalkovsky | 28 | Undisclosed [17] |
December 15, 2023 | Sebastian Zacharz | N/A | Undisclosed [18] |
In addition, Marek Mastalerz, aged 45, died of wounds sustained in the fighting in Ukraine on 27 March 2023, while volunteering as an aid worker. [2] [19]
Mirosław Hermaszewski was a Polish cosmonaut, fighter plane pilot, and Polish Air Force officer. He became the first, and at the time of his death in December 2022, the only, Polish national in space when he flew aboard the Soviet Soyuz 30 spacecraft in 1978. He was the 89th human to reach outer space.
Ryszard Kaczorowski, GCMG was a Polish statesman. From 1989 to 1990, he served as the last President of Poland-in-exile. He succeeded Kazimierz Sabbat, and resigned his post following Poland's regaining independence from the Soviet sphere of influence and the election of Lech Wałęsa as the first democratically elected President of Poland since before the Second World War. He died on 10 April 2010 in the plane crash near Smolensk, Russia, along with the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and other senior government officials.
Yavoriv is a city in the Lviv region of western Ukraine which is around 15 kilometers from the Polish border. It is the administrative centre of Yavoriv Raion and is situated approximately 50 kilometres west of the oblast capital, Lviv. Yavoriv hosts the administration of Yavoriv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is approximately 12,785.
Ukrainians in Poland have various legal statuses: ethnic minority, temporary and permanent residents, and refugees. According to the Polish census of 2011, the Ukrainian minority in Poland was composed of approximately 51,000 people. Some 38,000 respondents named Ukrainian as their first identity, 13,000 as their second identity, and 21,000 declared Ukrainian identity jointly with Polish nationality. However, these numbers have changed since the mid-2010s, with a large influx of economic immigrants and students from Ukraine to Poland, with some estimating their total number at 2 million people. Their status has been regulated according to the Polish and European Union (EU) policies of temporary work permits, temporary residence permits and permanent residence permits. The number of Ukrainians in Poland rose dramatically following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. By 16 August 2022, more than 11.2 million Ukrainian refugees left the territory of Ukraine, of which more than 5.4 million people fled to neighbouring Poland.
TVP Info is a Polish free-to-air television news channel, run by the public state broadcaster TVP. It is focused on newscasts, mainly broadcasting nationwide news bulletins. Until 20 December 2023, its main offices were located in the Television Information Agency building at Warsaw Insurgents Square; since 29 December 2023 the channel's activities are carried out from the main TVP building on Woronicza Street, Warsaw.
Marian Kociniak was a Polish film and theatre actor, most notable for appearing in the 1970 film How I Unleashed World War II.
The Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), formerly known as the Open Dialog Foundation,, is an international non-governmental organization, founded in 2009 in Poland and currently headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights and the rule of law in the post-Soviet area and – since 2018 – within the European Union.
Tell No One is a 2019 Polish documentary directed by Tomasz Sekielski about child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Poland.
Paweł Adamowicz, sitting mayor of Gdańsk, Poland, was fatally stabbed on 13 January 2019, during the finale of the 27th Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, a wintertime Polish charity event. The incident took place in the former coal market of the city of Gdańsk. It was a highly public attack, with significant news coverage from both national and international sources.
Szymon Hołownia's Poland 2050 is a centrist to centre-right political party in Poland.
The Piorun is a Polish man-portable air-defense system, designed to destroy low-flying aircraft, airplanes, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. The set is a deep modernization of the PPZR Grom set, with an alternative designation of Grom-M.
Events in the year 2022 in Poland.
The International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine, or the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, is a military unit of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine composed of foreign volunteers. It was created on 27 February 2022 by the Ukrainian government at the request of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fight against the Russian invasion of the country.
Falanga is a Polish national radical organization which was founded in January 2009. It is led by Bartosz Bekier, former coordinator of the Masovian Brigade of the National Radical Camp (ONR).
Events in the year 2023 in Poland.
On 15 November 2022, a missile struck Polish territory, in the village of Przewodów near the border with Ukraine, killing two people. The incident occurred during attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure by Russia. It was the first incident of a foreign missile hitting NATO territory during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Initially Ukraine accused Russia of striking Poland, while United States claimed that the missile was likely to have been an air defence missile fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile. This was later confirmed in September 2023 by the Polish Prosecutor's Office, which stated that the explosion was caused by an out of control air-defence missile S-300.
Aleksandra Karolina Wiśniewska is a Polish politician, political scientist, humanitarian and social activist. Since 2023, she is a member of the Sejm of Poland, as a nonpartisan member of the Civic Coalition political alliance.
The Canada Ukraine Surgical Aid Program or CUSAP is a mission of Canadian doctors led by Oleh Antonyshyn, a Canadian plastic surgeon of Ukrainian descent. Initiated by the Canada-Ukraine Foundation in 2014 following the Revolution of Dignity, CUSAP's volunteer doctors provide free treatment to patients, while the Canada-Ukraine Foundation covers operating costs.