Poland considers revoking Zelensky honour after Ukraine names unit after wartime group

Ukraine is facing a fresh diplomatic dispute with Poland after Kyiv named a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a wartime group that remains deeply controversial in Poland. The move has prompted Polish President Karol Nawrocki to consider revoking Volodymyr Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state honour. The row has widened into a public argument over history, memory and wartime responsibility, with criticism coming from across the Polish political spectrum.

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The dispute began when Zelensky issued a decree late last month naming a military unit of the Special Operations Forces after the UPA, which existed in the 1940s and 1950s. Nawrocki said he had already consulted the council of the order and would decide whether to revoke the honour "in due course". He also condemned the Ukrainian decision as "glorification of bandits and killers".

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has urged Kyiv to look for solutions, saying that if it does not, "not empathy but hard business will determine our relations". The controversy has immediate political consequences because Poland has been one of Ukraine's most important supporters since Russia's full-scale invasion. The supporting material says Poland opened its borders to millions of Ukrainians fleeing the war and continues to provide shelter to almost a million refugees.

Some opposition MPs from Law and Justice have called for "a drastic reassessment of relations" with Kyiv. The leader of the far-right Confederation party, Krzysztof Bosak, has gone further, demanding that Warsaw stop funding Starlink satellite services used by Ukraine's army and block Ukraine's EU accession until Kyiv reverses the decision. The dispute matters because it touches a long-running and highly sensitive historical argument between the two countries.

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Many in Ukraine view the UPA as a symbol of resistance and struggle for independence against the Soviet Red Army and Nazi Germany, while Poland accuses the group of carrying out genocide against ethnic Poles in Volhynia in 1943-45. Warsaw says about 100,000 ethnic Poles were killed in the Volhynia massacres, and the issue remains one of the most painful elements in Polish-Ukrainian relations. That makes the naming of a military unit after the UPA more than a symbolic gesture, because it directly affects diplomacy, public opinion and trust.

The row also highlights the tension between Ukraine's wartime identity and the expectations of its neighbours and allies. The UPA, which operated in the 1940s and 1950s, is regarded by many Ukrainians as part of the country's independence struggle, but in Poland it is associated with mass killings of civilians. Nawrocki's comments suggest the dispute could now affect not only ceremonial honours but also broader political relations.

The fact that criticism has come from both the far right and the left in Poland suggests the issue has cut across normal party lines. What happens next will depend on whether Kyiv responds to the criticism and whether Warsaw follows through on the threat to revoke Zelensky's honour. It is not yet clear whether Nawrocki will make a final decision or whether the Polish government will take any practical steps beyond political pressure.

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