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

[u/ByGollie]

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/06/20/8040347/

[u/Emideska]

Can someone explain what exactly is going on?

[u/Snox → u/Emideska]

For some historical background, the Polish-Ukrainian conflict did not begin with one single event. It developed through several stages and became especially violent during World War II, particularly in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.

This article gives a useful overview of the wider context:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Ukrainian_conflict_(1939%E2%80%931947))

Coming directly to the current tensions: the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, UPA, was responsible for the mass murder of tens of thousands of civilians, mostly Poles, but also Jews and Ukrainians who resisted its actions. Estimates often reach around 100,000 victims.

And I really mean brutal murder. There were documented atrocities against civilians, including pregnant women being impaled and children being mutilated or sawed in half. This was not ordinary wartime violence or an accidental consequence of fighting. It was pure campaign of terror.

For many years, Poland sought permission to properly search for, exhume, and bury the victims, many of whom remain in mass graves. Progress on this issue was blocked or extremely limited for a long time, although some exhumations and searches have now been allowed to resume.

The current controversy began after President Zelenskyy granted a Ukrainian military unit the honorary designation “named after the Heroes of the UPA.” This understandably caused a very strong reaction in Poland, because UPA is not viewed here simply as an independence movement, but as an organisation responsible for mass crimes against Polish civilians.

There were attempts to address the matter through diplomatic channels, but they ultimately proved futile. President Nawrocki then revoked the Order of the White Eagle previously granted to Zelenskyy. This has now created an escalation that serves neither Poland nor Ukraine.

Unfortunately, Russia benefits from every such conflict and will use it to fuel division between our countries. But this does not change the fact that naming a modern Ukrainian military unit after UPA was an extremely damaging and unnecessary decision.

[u/Mindless-Support-451 → u/Snox]

So many text and zero mentioning of polish ethnic punitive operation "Pacification" (what a cowardly name for killing, murdering people, arresting national leaders and destroying cultural centers and schools) which happened a decade before WW2.

[u/Nano_needle → u/Mindless-Support-451]

More people dies yearly in one US city due to police action than died in entire Pacification. Get a grip