Polish President Karol Nawrocki told reporters on Friday that he wants to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state honor, after Kyiv’s decision to name a military unit after a controversial World War II insurgent force.On Tuesday, Zelensky decreed that the Separate Special Operations Center North, an elite group in the Ukrainian army, would go by the honorific “Heroes of the UPA.” Following its formation in 1942, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army fought a guerrilla campaign against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The group also perpetrated massacres that killed up to 100,000 Poles, according to some estimates.“Glorifying the UPA has provided Russian propaganda with ample oxygen for disinformation,” Nawrocki said. The Polish president signaled his intention to raise the matter with the Order of the White Eagle chapter at its June 8 meeting.
Former Polish President Andrzej Duda presented the Order of the White Eagle to Zelensky in 2025 for “deepening friendly and comprehensive relations between Poland and Ukraine, for the development of cooperation in the name of democracy, peace and security in Europe, [and] steadfastness in the protection of inalienable human rights,” according to Zelensky’s office.
