Polish President Revokes Zelensky’s Highest Award Over Honoring of UPA Unit

Polish President Karol Navrocki announced on Friday that he is revoking the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state decoration, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The order was presented to Zelensky three years ago. The decision comes in response to Zelensky’s move to honor a World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) unit, which Poland associates with the mass killing of Polish civilians.

In a video statement posted on the Polish presidency’s official X account, Navrocki explained the revocation. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha condemned the Polish decision, calling it a strategic mistake and a display of disrespect. Sybiha stated that only Moscow would benefit from Navrocki’s irresponsible move, adding that he would return the order he had received from Warsaw.

The UPA issue is a sensitive topic in Ukrainian-Polish relations. While Ukraine reveres the UPA for its role in the struggle for independence, Poland remembers it for the Volhynia massacre, an ethnic cleansing campaign in which an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 ethnic Poles were killed between 1943 and 1945. Retaliatory attacks and subsequent partisan warfare also claimed the lives of 2,000 to 3,000 Ukrainians, and later, until 1947, the communist regime killed approximately 20,000 Ukrainians.

On May 26, Ukraine’s Independent Special Operations Center “Northern,” currently fighting against Russia, was renamed “UPA Heroes” to, according to official statements, restore historical traditions of the national army. This decision, supported by Zelensky, sparked widespread outrage in Poland and drew criticism from politicians across the political spectrum.