Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Image: DPA
June 21, 2026, 3:45 p.mJune 21, 2026, 3:45 p.m
A dispute over the history of Ukrainian nationalists has escalated between Warsaw and Kiev – now President Volodymyr Zelensky has returned the highest Polish state award he was awarded in 2023 by post. He understood that the “Order of the White Eagle” represented a special honor, Zelensky wrote on A number of former presidents also renounced the medal in protest.
The background is the decision of Polish President Karol Nawrocki to withdraw Zelensky’s medal in a dispute over the history of both countries in the Second World War. “We believed at the time that the Order of the White Eagle, awarded in 2023, was for the Ukrainian people and the army,” wrote Zelensky. Now an old historical dispute has escalated.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki.Image: keystone
Zelensky triggered the conflict at the end of May when he gave an army unit the nickname “Hero of the UPA”. The decision led to protests in Ukraine. Kiev honors the memory of the underground fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) because they resisted Soviet rule after World War II. During the war, the gunmen carried out massacres of tens of thousands of Poles and Jews in what is now western Ukraine.
Kyiv remains open to cooperation with Warsaw
“Today I sent the medal back to the Polish president,” said Zelensky. He and Ukrainian media posted photos from the presidential office mailroom in Kiev showing the medal packaged and addressed to Nawrocki. “If there is therefore the view that this special symbol can remain with (Tsarina) Catherine II, with (Italian dictator) Benito Mussolini and (former Chancellor) Gerhard Schröder, then we have nothing to oppose this in Ukraine,” Zelenskyj continued.
At the same time he was conciliatory. Ukraine will continue to be open “to all meaningful formats of cooperation” in order to avoid contradictory interpretations of the difficult and painful chapters of our shared past.
Nawrocki’s predecessor Andrzej Duda.Image: keystone
Zelensky was awarded Poland’s highest honor in 2023 by Nawrocki’s predecessor Andrzej Duda to underline the friendship between Poland and Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression against Kiev. The Polish president asserted in a statement that the withdrawal was “not directed against the Ukrainian nation” and did not change the strategic direction of Polish security policy.
Dispute plays into Moscow’s hands
Leading Ukrainian politicians and former presidents also announced their renunciation of state awards given to them in solidarity with Zelensky. He is returning the Golden Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, with which he was awarded last year, wrote the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kyrylo Budanov, on Telegram. He spoke of an unfriendly gesture by Navrock towards the Ukrainian people.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha.Image: keystone
“This is undoubtedly a gift for the Moscow aggressor, who will definitely use it against both of our countries,” says Budanov. In fact, the Russian leadership is looking at the dispute with satisfaction because it now sees its criticism of Ukrainian nationalists confirmed by the Polish side.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also announced the return of his award. “The decision to withdraw the Order of the White Eagle from the Ukrainian president is a strategic mistake by the President of Poland, from which only Moscow benefits,” said the minister on Facebook.
Other Ukrainians forego the Polish award
In protest against Nawrocki’s decision, former Ukrainian heads of state renounced the honor. According to media reports, former President Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005) declared that he would renounce the Order of the White Eagle, which he had received in 1997. He was convinced that this “unfriendly step” by President Nawrocki could not destroy the friendship between the two countries.
Former head of state Viktor Yushchenko (2005-2010) also announced that he wanted to forego the award. The series was also joined by Petro Poroshenko (2014-2019), who described Navrocki’s decision as “wrong and unfair to the Ukrainian people”.
Dispute overshadows reconstruction conference in Gdansk
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on Nawrocki and Zelensky to show moderation on Friday. “The conflict between Poland and Ukraine pleases (Kremlin leader Vladimir) Putin and shocks our allies,” he wrote on X. The dispute escalated a few days before a reconstruction conference for Ukraine in Poland.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also expected to attend the conference.Image: keystone
The news portal Onet.pl raised the question of whether Zelensky might cancel his personal participation in the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Gdansk on June 25-26. The Foreign Ministry in Warsaw still has a confirmation of participation from Zelensky, the portal reported. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also expected to attend the conference.
History puts a strain on the relationship between Warsaw and Kyiv
The massacres of Polish civilians in the once Polish and now Ukrainian region of Volhynia during World War II have long strained relations between the two countries. The nationalist Ukrainian Insurrectionary Army (UPA) murdered up to 100,000 Polish men, women and children between 1943 and 1945.
They hoped to strengthen the Ukrainian claim to the area through an uprising against the German occupiers and the elimination of the Polish civilian population. Ukraine had allowed excavations to search for these Polish victims. However, the process is making slow progress. (sda/dpa)