Zelenskyy mails back top Polish order in bitter bilateral row

The decision by Nawrocki, a nationalist, was the latest episode of a diplomatic row that has snowballed between Kyiv and Warsaw, which is one of Ukraine’s staunchest backers in its war against Russia. 

"We believed that the Order of the White Eagle, awarded in 2023, was meant for the Ukrainian People and our army. That is what was said at the time,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. 

“Today, I sent the Order back to the President of Poland." 

He posted photographs of the order alongside what appeared to be a courier dispatch receipt. 

Nawrocki announced on Friday he was revoking the decoration after Zelenskyy approved naming a Ukrainian military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a nationalist paramilitary organization accused of massacring Poles during World War II. 

In his post, Zelenskyy said that "if it is considered that this special symbol [Poland’s Order of the White Eagle] may remain with Catherine II, Benito Mussolini, and Gerhard Schröder, then we in Ukraine will not argue with that." 

The order, founded in 1705 and Poland's highest distinction, has over the centuries been awarded to monarchs, political leaders and public figures.  

Critics of Nawrocki's move, including Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, have noted that a number of controversial recipients have never been stripped of the award. 

Russian empress and fascist dictator 

Catherine II was an 18th-century Russian empress linked in Poland to the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by foreign powers, while Italian fascist dictator Mussolini is remembered for his wartime authoritarian rule. 

Former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, meanwhile, has been criticized for his ties to Russian state-linked energy firms. 

With the row between Poland and Ukraine escalating, several top Ukrainian officials awarded Polish state honors renounced their decorations in solidarity with Zelenskyy. 

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, presidential office chief Kyrylo Budanov and Ukraine's ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, have all said they would return Polish state honors bestowed on them. 

Nawrocki has said his decision was not directed against the Ukrainian people and would not alter Poland's support for Kyiv in its war against Russia. 

Rare move 

Revocations of the Order of the White Eagle are exceptionally rare.  

Before Zelenskyy, the only known case involved Wincenty Witos, a Polish prime minister in the 1920s, who lost the award following a court ruling, but later had it restored. 

Zelenskyy said Ukraine remained grateful for Polish support and would stay open to dialogue with Warsaw over "the difficult and painful chapters of our shared past."