High-ranking Ukrainian officials announced on Saturday that they are returning their Polish state honors following the decision by Polish President Karol Nawrocki to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the nation’s highest award.
This development threatens to increase tension between the two critical strategic allies at a time when Kyiv is actively seeking global support to pressure Russia into ending the war.
“This is a gift to the Moscow aggressor, who will certainly use it against both of our countries,” stated Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, on social media. Budanov confirmed he is returning the Gold Officer’s Cross of the Polish Order of Merit.
On Friday, President Nawrocki announced the revocation of the Order of the White Eagle—Poland’s premier state honor—which had been conferred upon Zelenskyy by former President Andrzej Duda in 2023.
The decision stemmed from Zelenskyy’s recent move to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a World War II-era militia that Warsaw maintains was involved in massacres of Polish citizens.
Despite this friction, Poland has remained a vital ally to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, providing refuge to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.
Nawrocki clarified that the decision to revoke the honor would not impact Poland’s ongoing military and defensive support for Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Ukrainian Leadership Rejects Polish Honors in Protest
Ukrainian leadership, however, contends that Nawrocki’s actions serve Russian interests.
Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine’s ambassador to Warsaw, characterized the decision as a “gesture towards all the Ukrainian people” and announced his intention to relinquish his Knight’s Cross of the Polish Order of Merit.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga echoed these sentiments, stating he would also return a Polish award received in 2022, labeling the move a “strategic mistake” that serves only to benefit Moscow.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Nawrocki, called for both nations to maintain their unity, warning that any diplomatic rift between Poland and Ukraine “delights Putin and shocks our allies.”
Russian Air Strike in Kharkiv Results in Fatalities
In separate developments, a Russian airstrike targeting the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed at least one person and wounded nine others on Saturday, according to Governor Oleh Synyehubov.
Concurrently, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 187 Ukrainian drones across the country during the overnight hours.
The escalation comes as both Moscow and Kyiv intensify reciprocal attacks while international efforts, led by the United States, to broker an end to the war remain at a standstill.