Polish President Strips Zelensky of Poland's Highest Honor Over Ukrainian Nationalist Decree

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has decided to revoke Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state decoration, in a significant diplomatic rift between the two neighboring wartime allies. The decision follows Zelensky's signing of a decree in May officially recognizing the Ukrainian Insurgent Army — known by its Ukrainian acronym UPA — as 'heroes' of Ukraine. In response to Nawrocki's move, Ukraine's Foreign Minister announced he would return his own Polish state decoration as a gesture of protest. The UPA is a deeply divisive historical organization: while celebrated by many Ukrainians as fighters for national independence, it is widely condemned in Poland for carrying out large-scale massacres of Polish civilians in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during World War II, in which tens of thousands of Poles were killed. The episode marks a serious strain in Polish-Ukrainian relations at a time when both countries have been closely aligned over Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, with Poland serving as one of Kyiv's most important supporters and transit hubs for military aid.