Poland President to revoke Zelenskyy honour over UPA unit naming

Warroad,UPDATED: Jun 20, 2026 19:14 IST

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has said he will revoke Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state honour, after Kyiv named a special operations unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA. Ukrainian officials said the move would help Moscow by fuelling tensions between Ukraine and one of its closest allies.

Nawrocki said the decision would not reduce Poland's support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia. But the row has sharpened a long-running historical dispute between the two neighbours at a time when Poland is due to host a major event on Ukraine's post-war reconstruction next week, which Zelenskyy is expected to attend.

Former Polish President Andrzej Duda gave Zelenskyy the award in 2023 for services to security, resilience and the defence of human rights. The latest dispute follows Zelenskyy's May 26 decree naming a military unit of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces after the UPA, which operated in the 1940s and 1950s and has been accused in Poland of mass killings of Poles.

In a 13-minute address posted on social media on Friday, Nawrocki said, "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." Zelenskyy's decree said the designation was meant to restore the historical traditions of the national military and recognise the unit's role in defending Ukraine's territorial integrity and independence.

The Ukrainian decision drew widespread criticism in Poland. Nawrocki, a nationalist politician, has used anti-Ukrainian sentiment in his politics, while Ukrainians in Poland have faced growing prejudice despite their contribution to the economy. The UPA fought for Ukrainian independence against both Nazi Germany and Soviet forces, but it has been accused of killing tens of thousands of Poles, most in Nazi-occupied Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. In 2016, the Polish Parliament recognised the crimes committed by the UPA as genocide. Ukrainians say armed formations on both sides, including the UPA and Polish underground forces, were involved in attacks and reprisals that caused large-scale civilian deaths among both Poles and Ukrainians.

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." Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it "a strategic mistake by the President of Poland, one that benefits only Moscow." Ukraine's ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, said the step was "especially painful" as Ukrainians were facing missile and drone attacks.

Budanov, Sybiha, Bodnar and Ihor Zhovkva said they would return state honours awarded to them by Poland, though some in Ukraine criticised that response. Former prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk wrote on X on Saturday that one "harmful and incorrect decision by the current president of Poland cannot be corrected by other incorrect decisions of ours." Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political rival of Nawrocki, urged both sides to "tone down emotions, not stoke tensions" and wrote that "The front line runs elsewhere," adding that conflict between Poland and Ukraine "delights Putin and shocks our allies."

The dispute comes despite recent movement on the exhumation of Polish victims and signs of progress on historical reconciliation at a meeting between the two presidents in Warsaw in December. With Poland set to host a reconstruction event for Ukraine next week, the row has put renewed focus on historical grievances even as both sides say support for Ukraine's defence against Russia must continue.

With PTI Inputs

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