Polish president wants to strip Zelenskyy of order after he named Special Operations Forces unit after Heroes of Ukrainian Insurgent Army
Polish President Karol Nawrocki will seek to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland's highest decoration following Zelenskyy's decision to name an elite Ukrainian Special Operations Forces unit after the Heroes of the UPA. [UPA, or the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, was a nationalist paramilitary organisation that fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, primarily against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union – ed.]
As reported by Onet, on 5 April 2023, then-Polish President Andrzej Duda awarded Zelenskyy the Order of the White Eagle – the country's highest decoration – during Zelenskyy's visit to Warsaw. Karol Nawrocki now wishes to strip the Ukrainian president of this award.
"On 8 June, a meeting of the chapter of the Order of the White Eagle will take place. I have proposed adding to the agenda the question of stripping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the order," Nawrocki said.
He added that by naming a Ukrainian unit after the Heroes of the UPA, the Ukrainian president had "provided Russian propaganda with excellent material and considerable fuel".
"I am very critical of this decision," Karol Nawrocki said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy granted the honorary designation "named after the Heroes of the UPA" to the Separate Special Operations Centre North of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The presidential decree states that this was done with the aim of restoring the historical traditions of the national military and in recognition of the unit's exemplary fulfilment of its assigned tasks in defending the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine.
The decision prompted an angry response from Poland's Foreign Ministry.
On 28 May, Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland Marcin Bosacki met with Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar to lodge a protest and give an explanation that this step is painful for Poles.