Zelensky under pressure to end row with Poland over WW2 name of army unit

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Zelensky under pressure to end row with Poland over WW2 name of army unit49 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleAbdujalil AbdurasulovIn WarsawReutersPoland's President Karol Nawrocki has said he will decide on Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle in due courseUkraine is facing a major diplomatic fallout with key ally Poland, after Kyiv decided to name a military unit after controversial World War Two fighters, reopening a painful chapter from the past. Polish President Karol Nawrocki is considering stripping Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky of the country's highest state honour, the Order of the White Eagle. Nawrocki has already consulted with the council of the order and says he will decide whether to revoke the honour "in due course".

The spat began when Zelensky issued a decree late last month naming a military unit of the Special Operations Forces after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which existed in the 1940s and 1950s. Many in Ukraine regard the UPA's members as heroes who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Soviet Red Army as well as Nazi Germany and Polish authorities. So for Ukrainians the title "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army" is a major honour.

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Poland, however, accuses UPA of carrying out a genocide of ethnic Poles in Volhynia (now Volyn in Ukraine) in 1943-45. Zelensky's decree caused significant outrage in Poland, and Nawrocki condemned it as "glorification of bandits and killers". There has been criticism from across the political spectrum – from far-right to left-wing groups.

Getty ImagesThe UPA fought for Ukrainian independence but it was also responsible for massacres in which an estimated 100,000 Poles were murderedMany felt Ukraine was ungrateful to Poland, which opened its borders to millions of Ukrainians fleeing the full-scale Russian invasion, and continues to provide shelter to almost a million refugees. Some MPs from the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) have called for "a drastic reassessment of relations" with Kyiv. The leader of the far-right Confederation party, Krzysztof Bosak, has demanded that Warsaw stop funding the Starlink satellite services that Ukraine's army has come to rely on, as well as blocking Ukraine's accession to the EU until Kyiv reverses its decision.

Nawrocki himself said Zelensky's decision showed that "Ukraine is not ready to join the European family". Even politicians regarded as "pro-Ukrainian" have strongly condemned Zelensky's controversial decree. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has urged Kyiv to look for solutions: "If not, it will mean that not empathy but hard business will determine our relations.

"For Ukraine, the UPA is a symbol of resistance and struggle for independence, even though Warsaw says about 100,000 ethnic Poles were killed in the Volhynia massacres. The group's red and black flag is often used by Ukrainian troops on the front line today.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.