Polish President Revokes Award to Zelenskyy Over WWII Unit Name Dispute

Poland's President Andrzej Duda has decided to revoke the country's highest state honor, the Order of the White Eagle, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The move stems from Zelenskyy's approval of naming a Ukrainian Armed Forces unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

The UPA is a nationalist group that massacred Poles during World War II. This decision by President Karol Nawrocki could trigger a significant diplomatic crisis between the neighboring countries, just days before a conference on Ukraine's reconstruction is set to take place in the Polish city of Gdansk.

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Given President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's consent to name one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 'Heroes of UPA-e,' I have decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine.

"Given President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's consent to name one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 'Heroes of UPA-e,' I have decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine," Nawrocki stated. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha called the decision a "strategic mistake by the President of Poland that only benefits Moscow."

While some Ukrainians view the UPA as heroes of resistance against the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and as symbols of Ukraine's fight against Moscow, the UPA was also involved in the Volhynia massacres. These massacres, occurring between 1943 and 1945, resulted in the deaths of approximately 100,000 Poles, according to Polish figures. Thousands of Ukrainians were killed in retaliatory attacks.

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The decision to withdraw the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine is a strategic mistake by the President of Poland that only benefits Moscow.