Key facts
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned his Order of the White Eagle to Warsaw on June 20.
- The award was revoked by Polish President Karol Nawrocki due to Zelensky's decision to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
- The UPA is associated with the massacre of Polish civilians in the Volyn region during World War II.
- Former Polish lawmaker Piotr Fogler returned his Golden Cross of Merit in protest of the revocation.
- Former Ukrainian Presidents Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yuschenko, and Petro Poroshenko also renounced their Polish state honors.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned his Order of the White Eagle to Warsaw on June 20, protesting Polish President Karol Nawrocki's decision to revoke the country's highest honorary title. The revocation followed public outcry over Zelensky's decision to name a Ukrainian military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a World War II-era nationalist organization remembered in Poland for the massacre of Polish civilians in the Volyn region.
Zelensky, who received the award in 2023 from then-President Andrzej Duda, sent the medal back via Nova Post, thanking the Polish people for their support. He stated Ukraine would remain open to communication to prevent misinterpretations of historical events. Polish President Nawrocki commented that the Polish people understand war but have a "threshold of tolerance" that was crossed.
Former Polish lawmaker Piotr Fogler returned his Golden Cross of Merit in protest, calling Nawrocki's actions a "mockery of Poland." Several Ukrainian officials, including Presidential Office head Kyrylo Budanov, also renounced their Polish state honors. Former Ukrainian Presidents Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yuschenko, and Petro Poroshenko announced similar actions. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk cautioned that politicians' involvement in the controversy was a "strategic mistake" that could benefit Moscow.