The latest flashpoint centers on Zelenskyy’s decision to name a military unit after the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Any reference to the UPA evokes painful memories in Poland as the partisans murdered tens of thousands of Poles in an ethnic cleansing campaign in the Volhynia region in 1943-1945.
Late on Friday, Nawrocki — a historian specializing in Nazi and Soviet crimes against Poles — made the dramatic step of depriving Zelenskyy of the country’s highest national accolade, which was granted in 2023.
He insisted his move did not represent a shift in Poland’s strategic policy in the war but insisted that Poles must not “betray the sacrifices of our ancestors with silence.”
Stressing the civilian victims of the massacres, Nawrocki said “naming one of Ukraine’s military units after UPA criminals carries significance that extends far beyond Ukraine’s internal affairs.”
Zelenskyy responded Saturday afternoon to Nawrocki’s revocation of the Order of the White Eagle distinction.
“Ukraine is grateful to the Polish People for their support and cooperation, which play a significant role in the struggle for our and your independence from Russia,” the Ukrainian president said on X. Ukraine will “remain open to all meaningful formats of engagement with Poland in order to try to avoid conflicting interpretations of the difficult and painful chapters of our shared past,” Zelenskyy said.
But he argued that revoking the order is at odds with the reasons it had been awarded in the first place. “We believed that the Order of the White Eagle, awarded in 2023, was meant for the Ukrainian People and our army. That is what was said at the time. Today, I sent the Order back to the President of Poland,” Zelenskyy said, adding pictures of the order being ready to be dispatched.
Polish anger
Zelenskyy last month issued a decree naming a special operations unit “Heroes of the UPA,” saying he wanted to honor its battlefield success against Russian forces. To many in Ukraine, the UPA is viewed as a valiant unit that battled both the Nazis and the Soviets in a failed effort to carve out an independent state.