WARSAW, Poland — Ukrainian officials are pushing back hard after Polish President Karol Nawrocki declared he would take back the highest honor Poland can bestow upon a foreign leader — stripping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle.
Nawrocki made the announcement Friday, citing Zelenskyy’s decision to name a Ukrainian military unit after a paramilitary organization that has been accused of massacring Polish civilians during World War II.
The honor had originally been awarded to Zelenskyy in 2023 by former Polish President Andrzej Duda, recognizing his contributions to security, resilience, and the defense of human rights.
The controversy stems from a decree Zelenskyy signed on May 26, which officially named a unit within Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army — known by its Ukrainian acronym UPA. The UPA was active during the 1940s and 1950s and has long been a source of tension between Poland and Ukraine due to accusations of large-scale killings of Polish civilians.
In a 13-minute video address posted to social media, Nawrocki explained his reasoning. “For the majority of Polish society, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army remains above all a formation responsible for cruel crimes against the citizens of the Polish Republic during World War II,” he said. He also stressed that revoking the award would not reduce Poland’s support for Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia.
Ukrainian officials responded sharply. Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, wrote on Telegram that Nawrocki’s move was “an unfriendly act toward our people” and called it “a gift to the Moscow aggressor, which will certainly use it against both of our countries.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the decision as “a strategic mistake by the President of Poland, one that benefits only Moscow.”
Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, said the timing made the decision “especially painful,” given that Ukrainians are actively defending against Russian missile and drone attacks.
All three Ukrainian officials announced they would return any honors they had received from the Polish government.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is a political rival of Nawrocki, called on both leaders to ease tensions rather than inflame them. “The front line runs elsewhere,” Tusk wrote on social media Friday night, warning that the dispute between Poland and Ukraine “delights Putin and shocks our allies.”
Zelenskyy’s May decree framed the naming decision as a way to honor military tradition and recognize the unit’s role in defending Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity.
Historically, the UPA fought against both Nazi German and Soviet forces in pursuit of Ukrainian independence. However, the group has also been accused of killing tens of thousands of Polish civilians, primarily in the Nazi-occupied regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. Poland’s parliament formally recognized those killings as genocide in 2016.
Ukraine’s position is that armed groups on multiple sides — including the UPA and Polish underground forces — were responsible for violence that resulted in significant civilian casualties among both Poles and Ukrainians.
The dispute comes despite recent signs of progress between the two countries. A December meeting between the two presidents in Warsaw had been seen as a step forward on historical reconciliation, including movement on the issue of exhuming Polish victims.
Poland is set to host a major international event focused on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction next week, and Zelenskyy is expected to attend.
