Polish President Revokes Zelenskyy's Order of the White Eagle Over UPA Unit Name

Poland's nationalist president Karol Nawrocki announced on Friday that he had revoked the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state honor, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The decision follows Zelenskyy's approval of a Ukrainian armed forces unit named "Heroes of the UPA," a reference to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) that Poland says was involved in wartime massacres of Poles.

Nawrocki wrote on X that Poland had repeatedly asked Ukraine to change the unit's name and that the Ukrainian side had not complied. He said, "Historical truth is not, and can never be, a bargaining chip. Remembering the victims is a moral obligation of the Polish state," and added that the revocation did not affect Poland's material support for Ukraine against Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the move a "strategic error" that benefits Moscow, and said no foreign president could dictate Ukraine's interpretation of history. Poland's prime minister Donald Tusk warned that the dispute could be exploited by Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged both presidents to calm tensions.

The revocation comes days before Poland is to host the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, raising uncertainty about Zelenskyy's attendance. The UPA, which fought Nazi and Soviet forces during World II, is accused by Poland of killing tens of thousands of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, while Ukrainian accounts note reciprocal violence involving Polish underground groups.