Poland threatens to strip Zelensky of top honour after Ukraine names unit after UPA partisans

A decision by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to bestow the name 'Heroes of the UPA' on a special forces unit has triggered a diplomatic crisis with Poland, uniting the country's fractious political class in condemnation and prompting a formal move to strip him of Poland's highest decoration.

The decision and the reaction

Last week, Zelensky issued a decree naming the Independent Special Operations Centre 'North' of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces after the 'Heroes of the UPA'. The decree stated the move was made to restore historical traditions of the national army and in recognition of the unit's exemplary performance defending Ukraine's territorial integrity. In Poland, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) is remembered for its role in the massacre of tens of thousands of ethnic Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during the Second World War.

President Karol Nawrocki responded on Friday by announcing he had asked the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle, which convenes on 8 June, to place the revocation of Zelensky's order on its agenda. Nawrocki said Zelensky had 'proven that Ukraine, in terms of mentality and glorifying the bandits and murderers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, is not ready to be part of the European family.'

A rare political consensus

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called the decision 'unacceptable' and 'very painful for Poles', and said he would speak with Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on Wednesday or Thursday. He also discussed the matter with Ukraine's ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar. Kosiniak-Kamysz warned the move would 'generate extreme anti-Ukrainian emotions' and urged Kyiv to reverse it.

Former president Lech Wałęsa, who had worn Ukrainian colours since the full-scale invasion began, said Zelensky had 'personally insulted him'. Jarosław Kaczyński and Confederation politicians joined the criticism, creating what Rzeczpospolita described as a 'bizarre cross-party front' against the Ukrainian president. Local officials in Przemyśl, a city central to refugee aid, sent protest letters to Ukrainian partners, and many town halls removed Ukrainian flags.

The legal path to revocation

Any decision by the president to revoke the order requires the prime minister's countersignature to be legally binding. The order was awarded to Zelensky in April 2023 by then-president Andrzej Duda for 'outstanding services in deepening friendly and comprehensive relations between Poland and Ukraine.' Duda told Onet that Zelensky 'received the Order of the White Eagle at a different time and under different conditions. Now they have changed, and Volodymyr Zelensky's behaviour has also changed. And that is clear.'

Senator Adam Bodnar, a former justice minister, said the mere declaration that revocation would be considered sends 'a very strong, unequivocal diplomatic signal.' He added that the ball is now in Ukraine's court and expressed hope that Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and Ambassador Piotr Łukasiewicz were making every effort to make Ukraine 'understand its mistake and withdraw from this decision.'

Divisions over the response

Not all voices backed the revocation push. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński called the unit naming 'scandalous' but said it was 'inappropriate for the president of Poland to walk out of the Presidential Palace for some kind of media set-piece and show that he is supposedly tough.' Former Solidarity activist Władysław Frasyniuk told Fakt that the initiative was 'an element of internal political struggle, not a genuine attempt to build proper historical relations with Ukraine,' adding that 'Ukraine is shedding blood today also for our security.'

Professor Sławomir Cenckiewicz, former head of the National Security Bureau, said on TV Republika that Zelensky's decision was a deliberate blow to relations with Poland. He argued that 'Poland can manage without Ukraine. Ukraine, in the situation it is still in, at war and receiving what Poland gives it daily, cannot manage without Poland.'

The broader fallout

Rzeczpospolita warned the affair could trap Prime Minister Donald Tusk. If the Chapter votes to revoke the order, Tusk would face a choice between countersigning a popular decision or refusing and being accused of acting against Polish interests. The paper also noted that street polls were 'terrifying', with citizens asking how Ukraine could 'spit in our faces' after all the help Poland had provided.

Ukrainian journalist and former MP Serhiy Vysotsky claimed Poland was 'behaving like Russia', while the Polish right argued that Warsaw had tolerated ingratitude from Kyiv for too long and that revoking the order was a minimal symbolic gesture.