Polish President Karol Nawrocki told reporters on Friday that he wants to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state honor, after Kyiv’s decision to name a military unit after a controversial World War II insurgent force.
On Tuesday, Zelensky decreed that the Separate Special Operations Center North, an elite group in the Ukrainian army, would go by the honorific “Heroes of the UPA.” Following its formation in 1942, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army fought a guerrilla campaign against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The group also perpetrated massacres that killed up to 100,000 Poles, according to some estimates.
“Glorifying the UPA has provided Russian propaganda with ample oxygen for disinformation,” Nawrocki said. The Polish president signaled his intention to raise the matter with the Order of the White Eagle chapter at its June 8 meeting.
Former Polish President Andrzej Duda presented the Order of the White Eagle to Zelensky in 2025 for “deepening friendly and comprehensive relations between Poland and Ukraine, for the development of cooperation in the name of democracy, peace and security in Europe, [and] steadfastness in the protection of inalienable human rights,” according to Zelensky’s office.
Warsaw and Kyiv have long sparred over questions of historical memory. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement in 2025 criticizing Ukraine’s position on the UPA.
Throughout the war, Moscow has invoked the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi aggressors to garner support at home and abroad. In his 2022 speech announcing the special military operation, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared his intention to pursue “the demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian Azov Brigade, in particular, has become infamous for its use of neo-Nazi imagery and rhetoric. In 2024, the United States lifted its ban on providing the brigade with weapons and training.
Since the Russian invasion began, Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest military and diplomatic supporters. Poland has earmarked nearly 5% of its GDP for supporting Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees. Poland hosts a major NATO logistics hub that supplies the Eastern European nation.
Polish spokesman Maciej Wewior commented on Friday that Zelensky’s decision “wounds the memory of the victims of [the UPA] and strikes at the dialogue between our nations.” Wewior added that Poland would raise the issue directly with the Ukrainians. Nobel laureate and former Polish President Lech Walesa declared on Facebook that, while he would continue to support Ukraine, he would withhold his support for Zelensky.
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“If we quarrel about the past, someone else will win the future,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X in Polish. “The President of Ukraine should finally understand this. The Poles too. Before it’s too late!”
Zelensky’s fellow recipients of the honor include President Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth II, and Napoleon Bonaparte.