Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s decision to strip Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest state honor has been denounced by Ukrainian officials.
According to the Ukrainian officials, Nawrocki’s decision was beneficial to Moscow, which has an interest in seeing Kyiv in conflict with its allies.
Former Polish President Andrzej Duda bestowed the award on Zelenskyy in 2023 for services to security, resilience and the defense of human rights.
Nawrocki announced on Friday that he will strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle over the Ukrainian leader’s decision to name a military unit after a Ukrainian paramilitary organization accused of massacring Poles during World War II.
Nawrocki said in a 13-minute address on social media, “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 added that the decision to revoke the honor did not mean Poland’s support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia would decrease.
Zelenskyy issued a decree on May 26 naming a military unit of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, which operated during the 1940s and 1950s and has been accused in Poland of mass killings.
Ukrainian Presidential Office chief Kyrylo Budanov wrote on Telegram that Nawrocki’s decision was “an unfriendly act toward our people” and “a gift to the Moscow aggressor, which will certainly use it against both of our countries.”
Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also called the decision “a strategic mistake by the President of Poland, one that benefits only Moscow.” Ukraine’s Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar said that the decision was “especially painful” as Ukrainians battle missile and drone attacks. All three Ukrainian officials said they would return orders issued to them by the Polish state.
Zelenskyy’s May decree said the designation was meant to restore the historical traditions of the national military and recognize the unit’s performance in defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence.
The UPA fought for Ukrainian independence against both Nazi German and Soviet forces. But it has been accused of killing tens of thousands of Poles, most in the Nazi-occupied regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. In 2016, the Polish Parliament recognized the crimes committed by UPA as genocide.
Ukrainians say armed formations on both sides, including the UPA and Polish underground forces, were involved in attacks and reprisals that led to large-scale civilian casualties among Poles and Ukrainians.
Polish Prime Minister Urges For Calm
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political rival of Nawrocki, urged the two leaders to “calm emotions, not stoke tensions.”
Tusk wrote on social media Friday night, “The front line runs elsewhere,” adding that the conflict between Poland and Ukraine “delights Putin and shocks our allies.”
Poland and Ukraine had recently made progress on the issue of exhumation of Polish victims. A December meeting between the two presidents in Warsaw had signaled progress on historical reconciliation.
Poland is scheduled to host a major event on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction next week, which Zelenskyy is expected to attend.
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