Poland strips Zelenskyy of top honor over WWII military unit dispute, straining Ukraine alliance

A diplomatic rift has strained the Poland-Ukraine alliance after Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland's highest honor, the Order of the White Eagle. The move followed Zelenskyy's decision to name a military unit after the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which is linked to the massacre of up to 100,000 Poles. In response, Zelenskyy and other top Ukrainian officials returned their Polish awards, and Zelenskyy skipped a major recovery conference in Gdansk.

White Eagle revocation

• ▪Polish President Karol Nawrocki revoked the honor because Volodymyr Zelenskyy named an elite Ukrainian military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army
• ▪Former Polish President Andrzej Duda originally presented the Order of the White Eagle to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023
• ▪Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland's highest state honor, the Order of the White Eagle, on June 19, 2026

UPA Volhynia massacres dispute

• ▪Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree naming an elite military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a nationalist paramilitary force
• ▪The Ukrainian Insurgent Army killed up to 100,000 ethnic Poles in the Volhynia region between 1943 and 1945
• ▪Polish underground forces killed between 10,000 and 20,000 Ukrainians in reprisal attacks during and after World War II
• ▪The Polish parliament adopted a motion in 2016 declaring the World War II killings of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists a genocide

Ukrainian officials return honors

• ▪Ukrainian officials Kyrylo Budanov and Andrii Sybiha, and former presidents Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko, returned their Polish state awards

Nawrocki domestic political calculations

• ▪Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk faces a political dilemma because the prime minister is required to countersign the document stripping Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the honor
• ▪Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Polish President Karol Nawrocki of revoking the honor to exploit anti-Ukrainian sentiments ahead of Poland's parliamentary elections
• ▪Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized President Karol Nawrocki's decision, warning that a conflict between Poland and Ukraine benefits Russian President Vladimir Putin

Poland-Ukraine alliance strain

• ▪Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to skip the Ukraine Recovery Conference starting on June 25, 2026, in Gdansk, Poland, amid the diplomatic dispute
• ▪Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will lead the Ukrainian delegation to the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk instead of Volodymyr Zelenskyy
• ▪Polish President Karol Nawrocki threatened to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union over the dispute regarding the Ukrainian Insurgent Army