Poland’s president strips Ukraine’s Zelensky of top award

Poland’s nationalist president Karol Nawrocki announced on Friday he was stripping Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky of the country’s top award, escalating a row between the neighbours and allies over World War II massacres.

Relations between Warsaw and Kyiv have been tense for days over Zelensky’s naming of a Ukrainian army unit after a WWII nationalist insurgent army that took part in massacres against Poles.

Nawrocki’s decision landed days before Poland is due to host the annual Ukraine Recovery Conference in its Baltic city of Gdansk. It is not clear if Zelensky will attend.

Nawrocki revoked Zelensky’s Order of the White Eagle – Poland’s highest award – over the objections of both Kyiv and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

“Historical truth is not, and can never be, a bargaining chip,” he said in a statement announcing the decision.

Nawrocki said Poland had “repeatedly” called on Ukraine to reverse the naming of the unit. “The Ukrainian side’s position has not changed,” he added.