The latest flashpoint centers on Zelenskyy\u2019s 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. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Late on Friday, Nawrocki \u2014 a historian specializing in Nazi and Soviet crimes against Poles \u2014 made the dramatic step of depriving Zelenskyy<\/a> of the country\u2019s highest national accolade, which was granted in 2023.<\/p>\n He insisted his move did not represent a shift in Poland\u2019s strategic policy in the war but insisted that Poles must not \u201cbetray the sacrifices of our ancestors with silence.\u201d<\/p>\n Stressing the civilian victims of the massacres, Nawrocki said \u201cnaming one of Ukraine\u2019s military units after UPA criminals carries significance that extends far beyond Ukraine\u2019s internal affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n Zelenskyy responded Saturday afternoon to Nawrocki\u2019s revocation of the Order of the White Eagle distinction.<\/p>\n \u201cUkraine 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,\u201d the Ukrainian president said on X<\/a>. Ukraine will \u201cremain 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,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n But he argued that revoking the order is at odds with the reasons it had been awarded in the first place. \u201cWe 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,\u201d Zelenskyy said, adding pictures<\/a> of the order being ready to be dispatched.<\/p>\n Polish anger<\/p>\n