Poland strips Zelensky of top award after UPA unit name, Kyiv warns relations could worsen

The immediate trigger

President Zelensky's decision to name a Ukrainian military unit after "Heroes of the UPA" drew sharp condemnation from Warsaw. On 19 June, Polish President Karol Nawrocki called the move "outrageous, incomprehensible and deeply disappointing" and stripped the Ukrainian leader of Poland's highest honour, the Order of the White Eagle. Nawrocki stressed the order "is a symbol of the Republic's highest trust" and that his decision was not directed against the Ukrainian people. Zelensky had received the award from then-President Andrzej Duda in 2023 for resistance against Russian aggression.

Kyiv's reaction

Zelensky returned the medal by courier the following day, and the move quickly became a top story in Ukrainian media. Presidential Office head Kyrylo Budanow told students at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy that the step reflected "the immaturity of people in Poland who pushed for and ultimately took this decision." He warned that the diplomatic rift had not peaked: "This is not yet the summit, believe me. It will get even worse if everyone does not step back a little." Budanow described the escalation as "a terrible mistake" and argued that neighbours should keep relations "good or neutral."

“If one gets into such things, at the very least Mussolini should have been stripped of the order. It looks extremely strange and was not thought through or prepared.”

A wave of returned decorations

In solidarity with Zelensky, several former Ukrainian presidents (Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, Petro Poroshenko) renounced their Polish state awards. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who also handed back his decoration, called Nawrocki's move "an insult not only to the Ukrainian president but to the Ukrainian nation and its soldiers," adding that he would not tolerate it. Sybiha also noted a rise in "xenophobic acts against Ukrainians living in Poland."

Polish counter-move

As the Ukraine Recovery Conference opened in Gdańsk on 25 June (Zelensky cancelled his attendance, sending Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko instead), PiS party chairman Jarosław Kaczyński announced he would return his Ukrainian Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. "It will be an expression of my attitude towards the Ukrainian elites," he said. Other Polish politicians, including Deputy Senate Speaker Michał Kamiński and former Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, followed suit.

A 'red line' for Ukraine

Prominent commentator Vitaliy Portnikov told Espreso TV that Nawrocki had crossed a red line. He argued that the order was not Zelensky's personal property but "a sign of the Polish nation's respect towards the Ukrainian nation for fighting Russian aggression." Portnikov likened the historical memory dispute to Kosovo–Serbia tensions, warning that such symbolic clashes could poison ties.