Ukrainian officials criticize Polish president’s decision to strip Zelensky of honor
WARSAW: A decision by the Polish president to strip Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of Poland’s highest state honor was beneficial to Moscow, which has an interest in seeing Kyiv in conflict with its allies, Ukrainian officials said.
President Karol Nawrocki announced Friday he will strip Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle over the Ukrainian leader’s decision to name a military unit after a Ukrainian paramilitary organization accused of massacring Poles during World War II.
Former Polish President Andrzej Duda bestowed the award on Zelensky in 2023 for services to security, resilience and the defense of human rights.
Zelensky issued a decree on May 26 naming a military unit of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, which operated during the 1940s and 1950s and has been accused in Poland of mass killings.
