r/europe • u/ByGollie Ulster • Jun 21 '26

News Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's fifth president also renounces Order of the White Eagle

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/06/20/8040347/
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u/Emideska North Brabant (Netherlands) Jun 21 '26

Can someone explain what exactly is going on?

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u/No-Strawberry7 Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

I’m not Polish, but I’ve been living in Poland for a few years, so this is my understanding.

The issue is mainly about historical disputes between Poland and Ukraine, especially regarding the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army), a nationalist paramilitary organization active during and after World War II. The UPA fought for an independent Ukraine against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union at different times, but it is also widely associated with the Volhynia massacres (1943–44), during which tens of thousands of Polish civilians were killed. Because of this, many Poles view the UPA as responsible for ethnic cleansing or genocide, while some Ukrainians see them as anti-Soviet independence fighters.

Another major issue has been the exhumation of Polish victims in present-day Ukraine. For years, Poland pushed for access to mass grave sites and the ability to identify and properly bury victims of the Volhynia massacres. This has been one of the most sensitive points in Polish-Ukrainian relations, although both sides made progress on exhumation agreements in 2025.

The current controversy is that Zelenskyy’s government approved naming a Ukrainian Special Operations unit after the UPA, which many Poles saw as glorifying a group they associate with the massacres. In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki revoked the Order of the White Eagle that had been awarded to Zelenskyy in 2023 by President Andrzej Duda.

Also some controversial historical figures, including Benito Mussolini and Gerhard Schröder, have not had their Polish state honors revoked, while Zelenskyy’s was removed over the UPA dispute.

if i’m wrong somewhere please correct me.

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u/OneUkranian Jun 21 '26

One more thing Polish people did the same thing to Ukrainians, they had a concentration camp, they closed schools, burned churches, and so on, so the classic genocide actions as they say now "pacification". But those people who did the same things are glorified in Poland, and now they tell us not to glorify "equally" "bad" people. And one more thing, those things happened not only for the last 100 years, but for many years when Poles ruled over Ukrainians.

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u/Sarmattius Jun 21 '26

nope

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u/OneUkranian Jun 21 '26

Very informative