A new political dispute has emerged in relations between Ukraine and Poland after Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the end of May, granted the honorary title of “Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army” to the Separate Special Operations Center North of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces.
Warsaw reacted immediately: Ukraine’s ambassador was summoned to the Polish Foreign Ministry, while right-wing parties called for cuts in military aid to Kyiv and for Ukraine’s path into the European Union to be slowed. In Poland, the legacy of the UPA remains an extremely sensitive issue because of the mass killings of Polish civilians during World War II.
According to Polish historians, up to 100,000 Poles were killed in ethnic cleansing carried out by the UPA in 1943–1945. The best-known episode is the Volhynia massacre: in 1943, more than 50,000 civilians, mostly ethnic Poles, were killed in Volhynia over the course of several months. In present-day Poland, those events are officially regarded as genocide, while in Ukraine, especially amid the war with Russia, the UPA is often viewed as a symbol of the struggle for independence.
On June 19, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced that he was revoking Zelenskyy’s Order of the White Eagle, which had been awarded in 2023. He said the decision reflected the fact that, for most of Polish society, the UPA remains a formation responsible for brutal crimes against Polish citizens.
Several Ukrainian officials then gave up Polish honors they had previously received. They included Kyrylo Budanov, Ihor Zhovkva, Andrii Sybiha, and Ukraine’s ambassador to Warsaw, Vasyl Bodnar. Budanov described the move as an unfriendly act toward the Ukrainian people, while parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk warned of far-reaching negative consequences for the bilateral partnership.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that only Moscow could benefit from this “war of history and honors.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged both sides not to heighten tensions, saying that conflict between Warsaw and Kyiv benefits Vladimir Putin and alarms allies. At the same time, Tusk still has to sign the decision for Zelenskyy to be formally stripped of the award; otherwise it will not take legal effect. Zelenskyy said he had already sent the decoration back to Karol Nawrocki, while stressing Ukraine’s gratitude to the Polish people for their support. Later, Ukraine’s second president, Leonid Kuchma, who received the Order of the White Eagle in 1997, also renounced the award.