57% of Ukrainians say each nation has the right to its own heroes, poll shows amid deepening historical dispute with Poland
A KIIS survey conducted between 17 and 23 June finds that 57 per cent of Ukrainians think every country may have its own interpretation of history, while 90 per cent want good relations with Poland.
What triggered the dispute
The latest flare-up began when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree naming a special forces unit “Heroes of the UPA”, an organisation held responsible by Poland for the massacre of roughly 100,000 Polish civilians in Volhynia during the Second World War. On 19 June, President Karol Nawrocki announced he was stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest distinction. The Ukrainian leader returned the medal the next day through a private courier; a viral claim that the parcel was sent cash-on-delivery was later debunked by fact-checkers. In the following days, several Ukrainian politicians also returned Polish state awards they had received.
What Ukrainians think
The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) fielded a survey from 17 to 23 June, asking Ukrainians how historical disagreements with Poland should be handled. The largest group, 57 per cent, said “every country can have its own view of history and should not interfere with how another country sees it.” Another 33 per cent prefer “joint commissions of historians, not politicians” to work toward a shared understanding through compromise. Only 4 per cent believe Poland should adopt Ukraine’s interpretation, and 1 per cent say Ukraine should meet all Polish demands; 5 per cent gave no answer. These numbers are nearly identical to a 2023 KIIS poll in which 55 per cent said Ukraine should not coordinate its historical policy with neighbouring states.
The results show that Ukrainian society approaches historical disputes with Poland in a fairly mature and constructive way. Almost all Ukrainians oppose imposing Poland’s interpretation of their common history.
Overall, 90 per cent of respondents want historical tensions depoliticised and want good, constructive relations with Warsaw. A separate social-distance scale measured by KIIS stood at 4.1 out of 7 in 2025 – a level the institute labels “moderately tolerant” despite a Polish election campaign that included anti-Ukrainian rhetoric.
Diplomatic fallout and the conference in Gdańsk
Against this backdrop, Zelenskyy has confirmed he will skip the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026) taking place in Gdańsk on 25–26 June. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will represent Kyiv instead. The Polish government, led by Donald Tusk, is hosting the event, which is set to bring together European leaders to discuss reconstruction efforts.
- Exhumation of OUN leader Andriy Melnyk; two diplomatic meetings between Polish and Ukrainian officials follow
- President Nawrocki announces he is stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle
- Zelenskyy returns the order by private courier; a false cash-on-delivery claim circulates online
- KIIS conducts its survey on Ukrainian attitudes toward the historical dispute
- Poll results are published: 57% back non-interference, 90% want the issue depoliticised
- URC 2026 opens in Gdańsk without Zelenskyy; PM Svyrydenko heads the Ukrainian delegation
Expert view: a missed opportunity
Bartosz Cichocki, Poland’s former ambassador in Kyiv, described the UPA-unit decision as unthoughtful and said the Ukrainian government was genuinely surprised by the consequences. He stressed that Poland remains Ukraine’s second-largest trade partner after China and that Polish shops are full of Ukrainian products, underlining the deep economic links that run beneath the political row.
I wouldn’t see this as serving Germany’s interests, even if I critically assess Berlin’s silence. First, Zelenskyy’s decision means rehabilitating Third Reich collaborators. Second, a Polish-Ukrainian conflict does not serve European integration.
Cichocki pointed to two private meetings that could have cooled tensions: Finance Minister Andrzej Domański met influential Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka in Kyiv, and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski spoke with Andriy Sybiha in Cyprus. “Those moments should not have been missed,” he said, arguing that the signal about withdrawing the order could have been delivered behind closed doors first.
A debunked rumour about the returned order
As the row unfolded, a social-media post claiming Zelenskyy sent the Order of the White Eagle with postage unpaid (“za pobraniem” – cash on delivery) generated nearly 250,000 views. However, the parcel’s tracking label shows it was sent as a regular express consignment, with no COD charge. Polish fact-checking outlet Konkret24 confirmed the shipment was fully prepaid, noting that the document visible in the viral image was not a collection note but a standard proof of posting.
