The transfer comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was stripped of Poland’s prime honour.
Revealed On 20 Jun 2026
High Ukrainian officers have mentioned they’re returning Polish awards after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was stripped of Warsaw’s prime honour in a dispute between the allies over World Struggle II massacres.
Zelenskyy’s chief of workers, Kyrylo Budanov; Ukraine’s ambassador to Warsaw, Vasyl Bodnar; and Overseas Minister Andrii Sybiha mentioned on Saturday they’d relinquish awards bestowed by Poland.
Really useful Tales
checklist of 4 objectsfinish of checklist
“Our nations have long-standing relations and completely different pages of historical past – each heroic and tragic,” Budanov posted on social media. “Nevertheless, this ought to be an event for deep reflection, not crude political hypothesis.”
Zelenskyy angered many in Poland over his naming of a army unit after a Ukrainian paramilitary organisation accused of massacring Poles throughout World Struggle II.
In a decree on Might 26, Zelenskyy named a army unit the Ukrainian Rebel Military (UPA) – the title of a gaggle that operated within the Nineteen Forties and Fifties.
On Friday, Polish President Karol Nawrocki introduced he would strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, which was bestowed on him by Former Polish President Andrzej Duda in 2023 for providers to safety, resilience and the defence of human rights.
For many in Poland, “the Ukrainian Rebel Military stays above all a formation liable for merciless crimes towards the residents of the Polish Republic throughout World Struggle II,” Nawrocki mentioned on social media, including that the choice wouldn’t finish Poland’s help for Ukraine towards Russia.
Ukrainian officers criticised the choice as one which performed into Russia’s arms. Budanov, the Ukrainian Presidential Workplace chief, wrote on Telegram that it was “an unfriendly act towards our individuals” and “a present to the Moscow aggressor, which will definitely use it towards each of our international locations”.
Overseas Minister Sybiha known as it a “strategic mistake” whereas Bodnar mentioned it was “particularly painful” as Ukraine fends off Russian assaults.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political rival of President Nawrocki, urged each side to “calm tensions” in a put up on X on Friday.
Battle between Poland and Ukraine “delights Putin and shocks our allies”, he mentioned.
The UPA fought towards each Nazi German and Soviet forces, however can be accused of mass killings of Poles in Nazi-occupied areas. Ukrainians say UPA and Polish underground forces launched large-scale assaults and reprisals towards one another that led to deaths amongst Ukrainian and Polish civilians.
