Senior Ukrainian officials said they would return Polish state decorations after Warsaw stripped President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of its highest honor, escalating a dispute between the two allies over World War II-era massacres.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s ambassador to Warsaw Vasyl Bodnar, and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced on Saturday that they were giving up medals awarded by Poland.
“Our peoples share a long history and different chapters — both heroic and tragic,” Budanov wrote on social media. “These, however, should be an occasion for deep reflection, not crude political interpretation.”
Zelenskyy angered many in Poland by naming a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) — a paramilitary organization accused of massacring Poles during World War II.
In a decree on May 26, Zelenskyy named the unit the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a group that operated in the 1940s and 1950s.
On Friday, Polish President Karol Nawrocki said he would revoke the Order of the White Eagle awarded to Zelenskyy by previous President Andrzej Duda in 2023 for contributions to security, resilience, and human rights.
“For most Poles, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army remains primarily an organization responsible for heinous crimes against citizens of the Republic of Poland during World War II,” Nawrocki wrote on social media, adding that the decision would not end Poland’s support for Ukraine against Russia.
Ukrainian officials criticized the move as aiding Russia. Budanov wrote on Telegram that it was “an unfriendly act toward our people” and “a gift to the Moscow aggressor, who will surely use it against both of our countries.”
Foreign Minister Sybiha called it a “strategic mistake” while Ambassador Bodnar said it was “particularly painful” as Ukraine endures Russian attacks.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Nawrocki’s political rival, urged both sides to “cool down tensions” in a post on X on Friday. Conflict between Poland and Ukraine “pleases Putin and shocks our allies,” he said.
The UPA fought against both Nazi and Soviet forces but is also accused of massacring large numbers of Poles in areas under Nazi occupation. Ukrainians argue that both UPA and Polish underground forces carried out large-scale attacks and reprisals that led to the deaths of Ukrainian and Polish civilians.
