Ukrainian nationalists on Friday converged outside the Polish embassy to protest against Warsaw's condemnation of President Viktor Yushchenko's decision to bestow a top honor on a Ukrainian nationalist leader.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski has said Yushchenko's decision to declare Stepan Bandera a national hero is at odds with the historical facts.

"It is not up to the Poles to tell us who our heroes are," one of the speakers said.

Activists of the Svoboda (Freedom) nationalist association held slogans demanding that Poland "repent the colonization of the Ukrainians in the 15th-20th centuries" and "admit to crimes against the Ukrainians in the 20th century."

They also said Poland should pay Ukraine compensation for the "oppression."

Bandera was a leader of a nationalist movement in western Ukraine and headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in 1941-1959. The Soviet authorities accused him of numerous acts of murder and terrorism and allegedly ordered his assassination in Munich on October 15, 1959.

Yushchenko's move has already fueled fierce debate in Ukraine, where Bandera is a controversial figure, with his mainly West Ukrainian supporters considering him a hero.

Outgoing Yushchenko, swept to power by the 2004 pro-Western street protests, gained slightly more than 5% of the vote in the first round of presidential polls. His presidency has been marred by continuous political infighting and economic problems.

KIEV, February 5 (RIA Novosti)