Poland strips Zelensky of Order of the White Eagle after Kyiv honours nationalist WWII militia

A painful chapter of WWII

The dispute centres on the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the armed branch of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists. Between 1943 and 1945, UPA units are held responsible for the deaths of around 100,000 Polish civilians in Volhynia, a region that belonged to Poland before the war and is now part of Ukraine. Poland’s parliament recognised the events as genocide in 2016; Ukraine rejects that characterisation, calling it a tragic conflict in the context of war and occupation. The controversy was ignited when President Zelensky, by decree on 26 May, granted the title “Hero of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army” to an elite Ukrainian special forces unit.

“For the overwhelming majority of Polish society, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army remains above all a formation responsible for brutal crimes committed against citizens of the Republic of Poland during World War II.”

How the dispute escalated

Warsaw strips the honour

On 19 June, President Nawrocki announced the withdrawal of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest civilian distinction, awarded to Zelensky in 2023 for his resistance against Russia’s invasion. Nawrocki said he was “indignant” at the Ukrainian decision and argued that Poles must not betray the memory of their ancestors through silence. The measure is the first time the order has been permanently withdrawn from a recipient.

Zelensky returns the medal

The following day, Zelensky said on social media that he was sending back the decoration. “We thought the Order of the White Eagle, awarded in 2023, was intended for the Ukrainian people and our army. That is what was declared at the time,” he wrote. He stressed that Ukraine remained open to meaningful engagement with Poland to avoid contradictory interpretations of their difficult shared history.

Kyiv pushes back

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also announced he would return his Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. “We regret that emotions have taken over in Warsaw and led Polish politicians to take unjustified, impulsive and contemptuous measures,” he wrote on Facebook, calling the episode an “unnecessary escalation”. Kyrylo Budanov, head of the presidential administration and former intelligence chief, said on X that he was renouncing his Polish order. He described Nawrocki’s decision as a “gift to the Moscow aggressor, who will not fail to use it against both our countries.”

“Ukraine will remain open to all formats of meaningful engagement with Poland, in order to try to avoid contradictory interpretations of the difficult and painful chapters of our common past.”

Tusk urges calm

Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on both leaders to favour dialogue over an “exchange of blows”. Poland is Ukraine’s foremost military backer, and none of the reciprocal gestures has, for now, altered the strategic partnership. In Moscow, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev reacted to the rift with undisguised satisfaction.