Polish President Karol Nawrocki revoked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's award of Poland's highest state honour, the Order of the White Eagle, in June 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Nawrocki said the decision responded to Zelensky's recent renaming of a Ukrainian military unit as the "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
The UPA was a nationalist militia active during World War II. Poland accuses the UPA of massacring about 100,000 ethnic Poles in Volhynia between 1943 and 1945, a campaign Poland classifies as genocide [1, 2, 4, 7]. Polish President Nawrocki stated, "For the overwhelming majority of Polish society, the UPA remains, above all, a formation responsible for the brutal crimes committed against citizens of the Republic of Poland during World War II" [1].
Many Ukrainians, however, view the UPA as freedom fighters who confronted both Soviet and Nazi forces in their struggle for Ukrainian independence [1, 2, 3, 8]. This dispute over historical interpretation has long complicated bilateral relations.
In response to losing the honour, Zelensky returned the Order of the White Eagle to Poland on June 20, saying, "We believed that the Order of the White Eagle, awarded in 2023, was meant for the Ukrainian People and our army. That is what was said at the time. Today, I sent the Order back to the President of Poland" [9, 7, 8, 10]. Several senior Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky’s chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov and Ukrainian ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, also renounced Polish awards in protest. Budanov called the move "a gift to the Moscow aggressor, who will certainly use it against both of our countries" [11, 7, 6, 10].
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the dispute as a "strategic mistake" that threatens both countries’ business and geopolitical interests, urging calm and solidarity despite the row [9, 3, 4, 12, 6]. Nawrocki emphasized that the decision was not directed against the Ukrainian people nor a shift in Poland’s strategic security policy [1, 3, 4, 8].
Poland reaffirmed its continued support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia, as well as humanitarian aid [1, 9, 3, 4, 6]. However, the diplomatic spat risks straining ties ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference due to be held in Gdansk, Poland [2, 3, 5].
The original award to Zelensky was bestowed in 2023 by then-Polish President Andrzej Duda for contributions to bilateral relations and democracy [9, 3, 8, 6]. The controversy was triggered in late May 2026 by Ukraine’s renaming of the military unit after the UPA [1, 2, 4, 5].
