WARSAW, June 20 — Polish President Karol Nawrocki has decided to revoke Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Order of the White Eagle after Kyiv named a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a nationalist force Poland holds responsible for massacres of Poles during World War II.
In a video posted on social media platform X on Friday, Nawrocki called Ukraine’s move “outrageous, incomprehensible and deeply disappointing.” He said the decision was damaging Polish-Ukrainian relations by promoting a historical legacy linked to wartime crimes, adding that revoking the order was “not only symbolic but also a warning signal.” The Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state decoration, was awarded to Zelensky in 2023.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha later called Nawrocki’s decision a “strategic mistake,” saying it was unjustified, impulsive and disrespectful toward both Zelensky and Ukraine.
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