Zelenskyy returns Poland's highest honor as row deepens

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Saturday that he is returning the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state honor, which he received in 2023 as a symbol of Polish-Ukrainian friendship. The move follows Polish President Karol Nawrocki's decision to revoke the award. Nawrocki based his decision on Zelenskyy's recent naming of a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a World War II militia that Warsaw accuses of participating in massacres of Poles.

In a social media post, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine remains open to meaningful formats of cooperation with Poland, while stressing the need to avoid misinterpretations of the painful pages of shared history. He called the medal a symbol of Poland's "highest trust" but suggested it no longer holds the same meaning after Nawrocki's action.

Other Ukrainian officials also announced the return of Polish awards. Presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, returning the Gold Officer's Cross of the Polish Order of Merit, called the decision "a gift to the Moscow aggressor." Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga and Ukraine's ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, also renounced their Polish honors, criticizing the move as a strategic mistake that only benefits Moscow.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political rival of Nawrocki, urged both countries to preserve solidarity, warning that the dispute "delights Putin and shocks our allies."

Meanwhile, a Russian airstrike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Saturday killed at least one person and injured nine, according to Governor Oleh Synyehubov. Russia's Defense Ministry said its air-defense systems intercepted and destroyed 187 Ukrainian drones overnight. In recent weeks, Moscow and Kyiv have intensified attacks on each other as US-led efforts to end the war remain stalled.