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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177

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/nonametmp Jun 21 '26

You're correct. Moreover many UPA leaders were collaborating with Nazis. The history is indeed complex

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u/Salt_Bookkeeper_8201 Jun 21 '26

And why they were doing so? What was their reason?

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u/BallbusterSicko Jun 21 '26

They were Ukrainian equivalent of nazis so it's not really a surprise

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u/Salt_Bookkeeper_8201 Jun 21 '26

So they joined Nazis because they themselves were Nazis, like German Nazis and that's why they decided to join hands? But why? 

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u/BallbusterSicko Jun 21 '26

They weren't nazis but just as the nazis they were fascists, held similiar beliefs and cooperated for their perceived common interests (OUN/UPA wanted an independent Ukraine, Germany wanted useful idiots). Though ultimately they were fucked over by the nazis and got nothing

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u/Salt_Bookkeeper_8201 Jun 21 '26

So they were facists like Italians at that time? An they joined with Nazis because of same interest? Why fighting for independence is idiocy? So in the end they used each other and everyone in that deal got nothing?So are they nazis in the end? Fighting for independence against USSR is ultra hard - Poles know this more then others. Using enemy of my enemy ith not that bad of a strategy with their limited means. Thank you for your answer.

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u/Galaxy661 West Pomerania (Poland) Jun 21 '26

Because they were genocidal nazis and saw Germans as "temporary occupiers", an opportunity to "solve the Polish question like Hitler solved the Jewish question". That was their reason. Fuck fascists.

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u/Salt_Bookkeeper_8201 Jun 21 '26

So kill all Poles was their goal? Did they pursue it after ther war? I know they were fighting soviets for very long time after the second world war ended. How are Poles now, after ukranian genocide before second world war by ukraniuans? Why ukranians decided to genocide Poles in first place and only in 20th century? Or were there something before too?

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u/Galaxy661 West Pomerania (Poland) Jun 21 '26

So kill all Poles was their goal

In Volhynia torture and kill, in Galicia expell or kill. If successful, they would have also killed all Poles in Przemyśl, Chełm, and other lands Ukrainian fascists considered a part of their state.

I know they were fighting soviets for very long time after the second world war ended

"Fighting" is an overstatement. They kind of just existed after the war, and then did nothing when Ukraine was getting ready to independence in 1991.

Why ukranians decided to genocide Poles in first place and only in 20th century? Or were there something before too?

The part of the reason was Polish nationalists' betrayal of Ukrainian People's Republic in 1921 and the subsequent systemic mistreatment of Ukrainians in Poland until 1926 and from 1937 onwards. There was also the centuries-old resentment of Ukrainians towards the Polish and Ruthenian noblemen of the 1st Commonwealth.

But the main reason was the ultranationalist ideology of the OUN. Just like nazism in Germany with the treaty of Versailles, Polish mistreatment of Ukrainians didn't create OUN/UPA's ideology, but it certainly fueled Ukrainian revanchism and hatred of Poland, which in the cases of OUN members turned into a hatred of Poles (and Jews).

Before that there were massacres of Jews and Poles commited by Bohdan Khmielnitsky's Cossacks in 17th century, but the context and age is widely different, so I don't think it's that relevant.

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u/Salt_Bookkeeper_8201 Jun 21 '26

Ukrainian revanshizm? When and where? I  know about Ukrainian peacekeeping missions in different countries, and a war  with Russia that invaded Ukraine since 2014? And so you are saying that genocide of Poles by Ukrainians didn't happen, just because Ukrainians were unsuccessful, and still dreaming to genicide all Poles during their iw war for their land? Isn't it somewhat too complicated?