Israel has criticized Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy granted full state honors to Andriy Melnyk, a nationalist leader whose movement collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II. Speaking at a reburial ceremony in Kyiv, Zelenskyy described Melnyk and his wife as iconic Ukrainians of the twentieth century who are deeply respected. Their remains were recently returned from Luxembourg and reinterred at the National Military Memorial.

Melnyk led a faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists that initially cooperated with Nazi Germany while opposing Soviet rule. The movement promoted antisemitic rhetoric, and some of its members took part in the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust. Although Melnyk was later detained by the Nazis, his legacy remains highly controversial.

Israel's Holocaust memorial authority and the Foreign Ministry condemned the commemoration, saying it undermines historical truth and the memory of Holocaust victims. The ceremony is the latest in a series of disputes over Ukraine's honoring of nationalist figures linked to Nazi collaboration during the war.