Zelensky loses Poland’s highest honor over WWII name of military unit

©picture alliance / NurPhoto | Klaudia Radecka

The Polish president has stripped Volodymyr Zelensky of the “Order of the White Oerdket” due to the naming of a military unit in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lost Poland’s highest state honor, the Order of the White Oerdket. The decision follows Kyiv’s decision to name a military unit after the controversial Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) from World War II.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki called the Ukrainian decision “reprehensible,” “incomprehensible,” and “deeply regrettable.” Nawrocki emphasized, however, that the diplomatic row will not affect Poland’s support for Ukraine against Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, on the other hand, described the Polish decision as a “strategic mistake” and “disrespectful.”

Two different perspectives

For many Ukrainians, the UPA—which existed in the 1940s and 1950s—is viewed as a group of heroes who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Soviet Red Army, Nazi Germany, and Polish authorities. The title “Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army” is therefore a great honor for Ukrainians.

According to BBC News, Poland, on the other hand, accuses the UPA of committing genocide against ethnic Poles in Volhynia (now Volyn in Ukraine) in 1943–45.

“For the overwhelming majority of Polish society, however, the UPA remains, above all, a group responsible for brutal crimes against citizens of the Republic of Poland during World War II,” Nawrocki said in a video on his official website.

Historical memory and trust

“That is why the decision by the Ukrainian authorities to glorify the UPA is not only reprehensible, but also incomprehensible and deeply regrettable,” he continued.“It not only wounds our historical memory. It also undermines the trust that has been built up over the years and in recent months.”

The Polish president pointed to the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees the country welcomed after the start of the Russian invasion in 2022.

“Poland opened its borders, its homes, and its hearts to millions of Ukrainians,” he said.

European integration and totalitarianism

He continued: “Ukraine’s path toward European structures also requires the will to honestly assess the difficult chapter of its own history. A united Europe was built on the rejection of totalitarianism and the cult of violence. These principles must apply to everyone. There can be no place in the European Union for those who do not understand this, and Poland will certainly not allow it.”

Ukraine aspires to become an EU member state and participated this week in Luxembourg in the first phase of negotiations on potential membership.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk sought to ease the growing diplomatic tensions between Kyiv and Warsaw. On social media on Friday, the former President of the European Council said that the dispute “pleases Russia’s Vladimir Putin” and called on Zelensky and Nawrocki to “calm emotions, not escalate tensions.”

The UPA as a symbol of resistance

For Ukraine, the UPA is a symbol of resistance and the struggle for independence, although Poland claims that approximately 100,000 ethnic Poles were shot during the Volhynia massacres.

The red and black flag of the controversial group is frequently used today by Ukrainian troops on the front lines. That is why Zelensky said he would use the name of the UPA for a military unit, “with the aim of restoring the historical traditions of the national army.”

2023 award

The Polish Order of the White Eagle was awarded to Zelensky in 2023 by then-President Andrzej Duda. Zelensky himself has not directly responded to the controversy. But Sybiha called it “a strategic mistake by the Polish president, from which only Moscow stands to benefit.” He said that as a result of the announcement, he would return an award he received from Poland in 2022. “No, the president of another country will not dictate our history,” he said.

©picture alliance / NurPhoto | Klaudia Radecka - illustrative image of Zelensky’s visit to Poland in December