Poland strips Zelensky of top state honour amid UPA naming row

Poland has stripped Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, the country's highest state honour, after a dispute over Kyiv's decision to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The move has sharpened a long-running historical argument between Warsaw and Kyiv over the legacy of the UPA and its role during the Second World War. It also comes at a sensitive moment in relations between the two neighbours, with Poland remaining a key supporter of Ukraine against Russia.

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Polish President Karol Nawrocki described Ukraine's decision to name the unit after the UPA as "outrageous", "incomprehensible" and "deeply disappointing". He said the row would not affect Poland's support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, but argued that the decision damaged trust. Nawrocki also said the issue touched on Poland's historical memory and on the principles on which a united Europe was built.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded by calling the move a "strategic mistake" and "disrespectful". The dispute centres on sharply different interpretations of the UPA, which existed in the 1940s and 1950s. Many in Ukraine view the group as heroes who fought for independence against the Soviet Red Army, Nazi Germany and Polish authorities, and the title "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army" is treated as a major honour.

Poland, by contrast, accuses the UPA of carrying out genocide against ethnic Poles in Volhynia, now in western Ukraine, in 1943 to 1945. Nawrocki said the UPA was, for most Poles, a formation responsible for brutal crimes against citizens of the Republic of Poland during the war. The decision has wider significance because it touches both memory politics and current diplomacy.

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Poland has been one of Ukraine's most important regional backers since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, and Nawrocki referred to the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees welcomed into Poland. At the same time, Ukraine is seeking closer ties with Europe and attended the first phase of membership negotiations in Luxembourg this week. The row shows how unresolved wartime history can still affect present-day political relations, even when both sides have strategic reasons to maintain cooperation.

The UPA remains a deeply divisive symbol across the region. In Ukraine, it is often linked to resistance against Soviet rule and to the country's broader independence narrative. In Poland, it is associated with the killings of ethnic Poles in Volhynia, a subject that continues to shape public debate and official statements.

Nawrocki said Ukraine's path towards European structures also required an honest confrontation with difficult chapters of its history. What remains unclear is whether the honour revocation will lead to any further diplomatic steps or whether both governments will try to contain the dispute. Nawrocki has said Poland's support for Ukraine against Russia will continue, but the episode has exposed the limits of that partnership when historical grievances are brought to the surface.

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