Former Polish Ambassador Returns Zelenskyy Award Over UPA Honors

Bartosz Cichocki, Poland's former ambassador to Ukraine, has returned a state award bestowed upon him by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Cichocki cited Zelenskyy's recent decision to grant honorary titles to the UPA Heroes' Separate Special Operations Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as the reason for his action.

“

in connection with the decisions of the President of Ukraine honoring the UPA and a collaborator of German Nazis, I returned the award granted to me in June by Zelenskyy.

Cichocki, who served as ambassador from 2019 to 2023, received the Order of Merit, Second Class, from Zelenskyy in June 2022. He was also awarded the Ukrainian Order of Merit by the then-Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, in December of the same year. In a statement accompanying the returned award, Cichocki expressed his support for "every Ukrainian fighting against the invader, historical falsehood, and corruption."

“

I simultaneously emphasized that 'every Ukrainian fighting against the invader, historical falsehood, and corruption can count on my support.'

The decision by President Zelenskyy to name a military unit after the UPA has drawn criticism from Polish politicians. Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that the decision is "worrying from the perspective of our relations and violates our historical sensitivity." President Karol Nawrocki commented that Zelenskyy's actions demonstrate Ukraine's unreadiness to be part of the European family due to its "mental aspect, glorifying bandits, murderers from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army."

“

is worrying from the perspective of our relations and violates our historical sensitivity.

The UPA is a controversial organization, particularly in Poland, due to its role in massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during World War II. While Ukraine views the UPA as a force that fought for independence against various occupiers, its legacy remains a sensitive historical issue between the two nations.

“

Ukraine, in terms of mentality, glorifying bandits, murderers from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, is not ready to be part of the European family.