Kyiv-Warsaw Tensions Rise After Award Revoked

Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, has renounced a Polish state honor after Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of Poland's highest award.

The dispute centers on Ukraine's decision to name a special forces unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a wartime organization remembered in Poland chiefly for its role in the massacres of Polish civilians during World War II, including in the Volhynia region.

Nawrocki revoked Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle on Friday. In protest, Budanov returned the Gold Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, which he had received last year, describing Nawrocki's decision as a "gift" to Russia.

"Our nations have long-standing relations and different pages of history - both heroic and tragic However, this should be an occasion for deep reflection, not crude political speculation", Budanov said on social media.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called Nawrocki's move a "strategic mistake" that benefits Moscow. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, one of Nawrocki's political opponents, had urged both sides to remain calm before the decision was announced.

(Reuters, bak)