In a move that has escalated tensions between Poland and Ukraine, President Karol Nawrocki announced on June 19, 2026, that he would strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state distinction. This decision comes amid a heated dispute over Zelenskyy’s honoring of a Ukrainian army unit linked to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which is remembered in Poland for its role in the 1943-1945 Volhynia massacres.
The controversy has far-reaching implications, affecting everything from Western weapons transit through Poland to Ukrainian refugees and Ukraine’s EU accession hopes. The dispute has also sparked a wave of anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland, with attacks on Ukrainian youth and graffiti appearing on the walls of Drunken Cherry bars, calling them ‘zones infected with Banderism.’
The Historical Dispute and Its Modern Implications
On May 26, 2026, Zelenskyy signed a decree honoring a special forces unit as ‘Heroes of the UPA.’ While the UPA is seen in Ukraine as an anti-Soviet resistance movement, it is remembered in Poland for the Volhynia massacres, in which up to 100,000 ethnic Poles were killed. This historical controversy has provided Poland’s nationalist right with a long-sought lever to pressure Ukraine.
The timing of the dispute could not be worse, as Poland is a crucial land corridor for Western weapons to Ukraine, hosts some 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees, and is a key vote for Ukraine’s EU accession. The quarrel now strains all three aspects of this critical relationship. The damage is already visible, with Polish and Ukrainian forensic teams exhuming the Volhynia dead now keeping cameras away from the graves to prevent Russian propaganda or AI deepfakes.
The Impact on Polish-Ukrainian Relations
The dispute has led to a significant shift in Polish public opinion. Polish polls show strong support for President Nawrocki’s decision, with anti-Ukrainian graffiti and attacks on Ukrainian youth rising. On June 3, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged restraint, asking Ukrainians and Poles not to ‘spin the flywheel of hatred.’
Jerzy Wójcik, a Polish journalist and Ukraine advocate, discussed the shift in Polish opinion and the potential consequences of this dispute. He expressed concern about the impact on Ukrainians living in Poland and the potential for real-life aggression. Wójcik also highlighted the danger of Russian operations or false flag provocations, given the current social and mental priming.
The Role of Historical Memory Institutions
Wójcik criticized the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) for using history to win political battles. He argued that there is no such thing as neutral history and that every memory institution bends history to current politics. He also expressed concern about the impact of Nawrocki’s decision on Ukrainians living in Poland, with attacks on Ukrainian youth already on the rise.
The Need for Practical Cooperation
Despite the political dispute, practical cooperation on exhumations and identification work continues. Forensic specialists from Ukraine and Poland work together in the same pits, reconciling faster than the politicians. However, the symbolic fight does its damage by forcing the people doing this work to behave like smugglers, hiding their efforts from the press to prevent provocations.
The Way Forward
Wójcik argued that reality will win in the end, as Poland and Ukraine need each other more than either side admits. He suggested separating the issues, allowing historians and forensic teams to continue their work without political interference, and not making Ukraine’s EU path depend on a dispute over 1943 that no summit can resolve.
The off-ramp from this dispute is not reconciliation but separating what can be done with hands from what we quarrel over with mouths. Over a generation, the real prize is a shared founding story for a new Central Europe, where Poland and Ukraine are co-authors rather than prosecutor and defendant. However, this can only become possible the day we stop letting the worst chapter of the shared past write the next one.
