Buses failed to arrive because of Bandera: Vinnytsia refused aid from Poland after a political scandal

Some Polish deputies said that transport should not be transferred to the city

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10 Jun 2026

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Vinnytsia withdrew its request to receive 15 decommissioned buses from the Polish city of Kielce after statements by some Polish councillors who opposed the transfer because of the name of Stepan Bandera Street in the city.

This was reported by the president of the city of Kielce, Agata Wojda.

According to her, the decision to refuse was made by the mayor of Vinnytsia, Serhiy Morgunov, so that the issue of humanitarian aid to a city living under war would not become an instrument of political conflict.

Agata Wojda explained that Vinnytsia refused the buses not because of a lack of need, but because it did not want to turn aid into a political dispute.

“He did this not because the needs of his city suddenly disappeared. The war there remains a daily reality, and the residents of Vinnytsia continue to face its consequences. He did it because he did not want the issue of aid to a city living under war to become an instrument of political dispute and a reason for further divisions.”

At the same time, according to Agata Wojda, the mayor of Vinnytsia thanked the residents of Kielce for years of support, assistance and solidarity with Ukraine.

This concerned 15 buses out of 40 vehicles that Kielce is taking out of service due to age, technical condition and mileage. The buses are almost 20 years old, and in the Polish city they were no longer to carry passengers. If not transferred, they were planned to be sold for parts or disposed of.

Agata Wojda explained why these buses were needed by Vinnytsia specifically during the war.

“In Vinnytsia, municipal transport is based primarily on trams and trolleybuses. In the event of power outages they cannot serve residents, which causes transport chaos. It was in such situations that the decommissioned buses from Kielce were meant to help.”

According to the official, some local councillors ignored this argument, after which a wave of negative comments, accusations and aggression appeared online.

Agata Wojda said that an aggressive campaign had arisen around the buses, and called the accusations about the alleged fate of the vehicles false.

“Hundreds of posts full of swearing, accusations and aggression. Such a space for public discussion was created by those who today speak most loudly about care for Kielce. Yesterday the head of the city council went even further. He publicly accused the city of fraud and hinted that the buses had been burned or dismantled for parts. This is not just untrue. It is baseless slander. The buses are on the carrier’s depot grounds, and the procedure of their acceptance is taking place right now.”

As the Slawa TV channel reports, opponents of the transfer included, in particular, city councillor Maciej Jakubczyk and a member of the Law and Justice party, Marcin Stempniewski.

Maciej Jakubczyk questioned the circumstances of the transfer and linked it to Stepan Bandera Street in Vinnytsia.

“In Vinnytsia one of the streets was renamed Stepan Bandera Street. And it would be along this street that one of the 15 buses from Kielce, which were planned to be transferred to the city free of charge, would have driven.”

Marcin Stempniewski said that the transfer of the buses would be incomprehensible given the political situation and Polish-Ukrainian disputes over historical memory.

“If the buses cannot run on Kielce’s streets, they should be sold and the money spent on the citizens’ needs, which are not lacking.”

Thus, the humanitarian issue that was meant to help the Ukrainian city during the war turned into a political conflict around Ukrainian historical memory, Stepan Bandera and the UPA.

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