Necva Tastan Sevinc
16 January 2026•Update: 16 January 2026
ISTANBUL
A Polish historical institution has launched a new project to document losses caused by Soviet military aggression and post-World War II domination, a move that could revive debate about possible reparations from Russia, media reports Thursday.
The Institute of War Losses has begun cataloging damage suffered “as a result of the USSR’s aggression in September 1939, the permanent seizure of Poland’s pre-war eastern provinces, and the long-term negative economic and social consequences of Soviet domination in the post-war period,” Director Bartosz Gondek, told the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.
Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski said Warsaw has never considered the issue of compensation closed.
“The Polish government has never recognized the issue of war reparations for the personal and material losses resulting from the USSR’s aggression against Poland and Stalinist crimes as settled,” he said, adding that the matter has been raised repeatedly with Moscow “without success.”
The renewed focus comes amid Poland’s long-running efforts to seek reparations from Germany for World War II losses. In 2022, Warsaw presented Berlin with a claim of €1.4 trillion, a move that strained relations.
Historians involved in the new project said the research is expected to take years.
“Given the extremely broad and complex nature of the issue, the preparation of the Eastern Report is a multi-year process,” said Gondek, noting that Russian archives remain inaccessible and many documents were destroyed or concealed during the Soviet era.
The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east on Sept. 17, 1939, weeks after Nazi Germany attacked from the west, triggering World War II. After the war, Poland fell under Moscow’s political control and lost its eastern territories, known as the Kresy, now largely in Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus.
Gondek said the initiative aims to address a long-overlooked chapter of Polish history.
“By recognizing the legitimacy of the institute’s work, the authorities are sending a clear signal that the time has come to address this neglected part of Poland’s past and to seek accountability – not only from Germany, but also from the legal and political heirs of the USSR,” he said.
