The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, has communicated that he will follow the decision of the main Ukrainian diplomatic representative and return a state distinction from Poland, amid a resurgence of an old dispute between the two neighboring countries, despite being allies against Russia.
Budanov made public on Telegram on Saturday his renunciation of the Gold Cross of Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, awarded last year. His gesture responds to the decision of the Polish president, Karol Nawrocki, to reject the Order of the White Eagle awarded by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.
The background of the disagreement lies in the violent legacy of the clandestine fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), distinguished in Ukraine for their fight against Soviet rule after World War II. However, during the conflict, this formation carried out massacres of tens of thousands of Poles and Jews in what is now western Ukraine.
Zelensky revived the controversy at the end of May by awarding the nickname "Heroes of the UPA" to a unit of the Army currently fighting Russian forces.
In his message, Budanov called Nawrocki's decision a "hostile gesture towards the Ukrainian people and a gift to aggressive Russia." The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andriy Sybiha, had previously reported that he would also return a Polish distinction.
The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has called for moderation from both heads of state to avoid escalation.
"The conflict between Poland and Ukraine is a cause for joy for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and consternation for our allies," Tusk wrote on social media on Friday, as the diplomatic confrontation worsened just days before a conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine in the Polish port city of Gdansk.
"The task of Presidents Zelensky and Nawrocki is to calm emotions, not to fuel tension. The front line runs elsewhere," he added.
Zelensky received Poland's highest distinction in 2023 from Nawrocki's predecessor, Andrzej Duda, as a symbol of the close relationship between Poland and Ukraine in their common resistance against Russian aggression.