Polish president strips Zelenskyy of top state honor amid row

Maciej Martewicz, Bloomberg News on Jun 19, 2026

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Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki stripped his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country’s highest state honor amid a row about commemorating fighters responsible for a World War II massacre.

The dispute started when Kyiv named a military unit after the Ukrainian nationalist fighters who killed an estimated 100,000 Poles, including women and children. It comes as Poland’s solidarity with Ukraine has shown signs of cracking more than four years into the war that turned the the European Union member into a hub of Western military aid for Kyiv.

Zelenskyy last month created the Heroes of the UPA unit, named after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Hailed by Kyiv for its guerrilla independence warfare during and just after World War II, UPA remains a long-standing source of tension with Poland for its killings in the Volhynia region.

“The decision by Ukraine to glorify UPA is inexplicable and deeply disappointing,” Nawrocki said in a video post on X. “It undermines not only history but also the trust that has been built for years and recent months.”

The parliament in Warsaw has described the massacres in the territories now belonging mainly to Ukraine as genocide. While Kyiv recognizes the atrocities and has agreed to allow the exhumation of the victims, it has also called on Warsaw not to politicize the issue — and to seek ways for a peaceful settlement.

Souring sentient

A deputy Polish parliament speaker from a far-right party has called on the country to block Ukraine’s accession to the EU over the issue. Ukraine seeks to speed up the opening of membership talks with the bloc after Hungary dropped its opposition.

Nawrocki has tapped into souring sentiment toward Ukraine during his successful election campaign last year when he spoke against extending public support for Ukrainians living in the country.

He said on Friday that his decision isn’t against the Ukrainian nation and that Poland’s security policy toward Ukraine and support for its neighbor in the war with Russia hasn’t changed.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that only the Kremlin stands to gain from Nawrocki’s decision and that he regrets that “emotions have got the better of Warsaw, leading Polish politicians to take unjustified, impulsive and disrespectful steps.”

Poland’s pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a fierce rival of Nawrocki, has called for the two presidents to ease the tensions. The decision to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle needs a signoff from Tusk to become effective.

The move comes just days before Zelenskyy is expected to attend a conference on Ukraine’s Recovery hosted by Poland, where companies, donors and officials will discuss post-war rebuilding of the country.

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With assistance from Olesia Safronova.

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