Poland strips Ukraine’s Zelensky of state honor over controversial army unit name

Ukraine had named an army unit after a controversial World War II-era group of fighters which Poland says was responsible for massacres of ethnic Poles during the war.

By Steven Richards

Published: June 20, 2026 10:36am

The Polish government stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the country’s highest state honor over Kyiv’s decision to name an army unit after a controversial group of World War II-era fighters accused of massacring Poles.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki criticized Ukraine’s decision to name the unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which Poland accuses of carrying out genocidal attacks against ethnic Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia from 1943 to 1945, "outrageous", "incomprehensible" and "deeply disappointing,” per BBC.

"For the overwhelming majority of Polish society, the UPA remains, above all, a formation responsible for the brutal crimes committed against citizens of the Republic of Poland during World War II," Nawrocki said in a video statement.

Many Ukrainians, however, consider members of the UPA heroes who fought for the independence of Ukraine against the Soviet Red Army, Nazi Germany and Poland.

Ukraine’s foreign minister called Warsaw’s decision to revoke the honor, the Order of the White Eagle, a "strategic mistake" and "disrespectful.”