Due to Kyiv’s choice to name a military unit after questionable World War Two warriors, Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has lost Poland’s highest state honor, the Order of the White Eagle.
Late last month, Ukraine decided to name the unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which Polish President Karol Nawrocki called “outrageous,” “incomprehensible,” and “deeply disappointing. Nawrocki emphasized that Poland’s assistance for Ukraine against Russia will be unaffected by the diplomatic dispute.
Andrii Sybiha, the foreign minister of Ukraine, called Warsaw’s action “disrespectful” and a “strategic mistake. The UPA, which fought for Ukrainian independence against the Soviet Red Army, Nazi Germany, and Polish authorities in the 1940s and 1950s, is revered by many in Ukraine as heroes. The designation “Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army” is therefore a great honor for Ukrainians.
However, Poland claims that between 1943 and 1945, the UPA committed a genocide against ethnic Poles in Volhynia (now Volyn in Ukraine).In a video posted on the president’s official website, Nawrocki stated, “For the vast majority of Polish society, the UPA remains, above all, a formation responsible for the brutal crimes committed against citizens of the Republic of Poland during World War II.
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