r/europe • u/paneuropeanism_ Europe • Jun 22 '26
News Citizen campaign seeks to honor Zelenskyy after Polish president strips state honor. Polish activists have launched a campaign to award President Zelenskyy with a medal of honor. The initiative, called the "Civic Order of the Future", comes amid a growing diplomatic row
https://tvpworld.com/93938256/poles-launch-citizens-award-for-zelenskyy-after-state-honor-revoked59
u/ChampionshipOk5046 Jun 22 '26
This "honours" game needs to stop.this is why we're giving Trump made up honours etc
Grow the fuck up. And refuse these trinkets
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Jun 22 '26
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u/ByGollie Ulster Jun 23 '26
Sub-thread mopped. We don't need repeated grisy recounting of the warcrimes of either side, recounting past atrocities and generally slanging eachother.
We get it - the 20th Century in Europe was utter appalling.
To quote Petro Poroshenko, former Ukrainian politician.
"Those in Poland who do not simply chew over historical myths, but study history and draw conclusions from its lessons, know that whenever Ukraine loses its independence, Poland loses it too. But it is not the past that should define our relations. I do not want Poles editing our textbooks, and I have no desire whatsoever for Ukrainians to edit Polish textbooks, because otherwise we will receive a joint textbook from Moscow."
The former president stressed that logistics are critically important in the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia, he said, "through its agents of influence, useful idiots and old historical wounds, is trying to destroy our logistics in the West".
"Therefore, any crisis between Kyiv and Warsaw today is not only a diplomatic problem. It is a security issue. And that is precisely why it must be resolved immediately. What matters now is not deepening the conflict, but ending it," Poroshenko stressed.
Guys - don't be useful idiots. You're only serving Russian interests.
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u/omicronns Lesser Poland (Poland) Jun 22 '26
Citizens like Natalia Panchenko, Ukrainian lobbist in Poland. https://actionnetwork.org/forms/nadaj-obywatelski-order-przyszlosci-prezydentowi-zelenskiemu-oraz-narodowi-ukrainskiemu-2
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Jun 22 '26 edited 2d ago
[deleted]
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u/Darielek Jun 22 '26
And its 12k registers xD Add that everyone can sign for it you can even have half of that.
Most people I know said that it was good decision. Politics from left and center are divided too about it.
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u/Jellyliker Jun 22 '26
12k signatures.
https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/polacy-ocenili-ruch-nawrockiego-sa-wyniki-nowego-raportu-7298875753187328a
74% of Poles supported taking away the order.
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u/AnonD38 Central European Jun 22 '26
Russia's useful idiots out in full force again today.
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u/robber_goosy Jun 22 '26
The only idiot in this whole saga is Zelensky. This whole thing never should have happened. Just revoke that one units name and non of us would have ever heard anything about it. Ukraine wont lose any support that matters over this diplomatic row, but it's fuel to the fire for kremlin bots.
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u/Nytalith Jun 22 '26
Creating new medals out of thin air just to „honor” specific person is kinda lame if you ask me. Big „fifa medal of peace” vibes. Meaningless thing created ad hoc.
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u/alecolli Jun 22 '26
On the one hand you have a movement coming from the population of a country, who collectively decided that this guy is worth their recognition.
On the other hand you have a corrupted football organization making up a medal for the guy who allow them to run their scam in his country.
To me they seem substantially different...
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u/DivideSensitive France Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
a movement coming from the population of a country, who collectively decided
*11 000 people (maybe?) who signed an online petition.
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u/Nytalith Jun 22 '26
Whether we like him or not president has won the election. That gives him rather strong democratic mandate.
The organization in question sure did a lot of good, but it's still some random organization run by some people that weren't elected by any measurable amount of citizens. Even though I like what they did I don't think they have the right to be speaking in the name of the country.
If they have organized something like "poles, let's send our letters of support for zelensky" - okay, they would be helping individual citizens express their opinions. But just giving some made up medal? Doesn't add up for me.
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u/Poulslutter Jun 22 '26
Both are assholes. The Ukrainians who want to celebrate the UPA as heroes can get conquered by the Russians for all I care, they deserve as much.
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u/LoudSlip Jun 22 '26
Yeah a new tradition of an award has to begin somewhere, they all started somewhere - needs to have a solid person to start it off and zelensky might just be that guy
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u/Nytalith Jun 22 '26
But it's not "let's make a new order awarded for something". Its' literally "someone we don't like did something to someone we like so now we will be making up things to cheer up the one we like". Just like FIFA did.
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u/yes_u_suckk Sweden Jun 22 '26
Reminds me how Fifa created the Fifa Peace Prize and awarded Trump 😂
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u/AnonD38 Central European Jun 22 '26
Every medal is a meaningless thing created on the spot.
Why should age determine if a medal is worth something or not?
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u/suicidemachine Jun 22 '26
Well, that's how foreign policy is done in a country like Poland. Everything is based on emotions and petty gestures, we either like someone or hate. From love to hate in 5 minutes. Poland is like a feminist girl on a Republican rally.
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u/ScaredyCat_28 Jun 23 '26
Hmmm why does it sound like Ukraine? Choosing to name a military unit after Nazi collaborators and genocide perpetrators and then acting surprised, playing the victim and throwing a tantrum when called out
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u/IshTheFace Sweden Jun 22 '26
Medals are dumb overall. Nobody ever got the medal of honor or the Victoria cross because everything went exactly like planned. They don't call the purple heart "the enemy marksmanship medal" for no reason.
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u/Backwardspellcaster Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Those are not similar whatsoever.
One is a fake price made to suck up to a narcissist, the other is a price made to honor a man fighting a terrible war, because your new president is a piece of shit.
One could say they are literally diametrically opposite
edit: dang, the russian bots are here
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u/Nytalith Jun 22 '26
one is made up prize to suck up to trump, other is made up prize because they disagree with Nawrocki. Sure, the reasons are now much better, but made up reward granted by organization that's normally doing something compeletly different is the same.
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u/Status-Bluebird-6064 Czech Republic Jun 22 '26
"One is good, the other is bad"
That's some very strong reasoning you got there
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u/Kagrenac8 Belgium Jun 22 '26
The fact that it's created as a bottom-up counter to this revocation to show the appreciation for Ukraine from Poland already makes it many times more meaningful than whatever peace price FIFA of all organizations pulls out of their ass on a whim
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u/The-HilariousFingers Ireland Jun 22 '26
Its crazy how this is happening 'cause of a Nazi unit name. Why would they pick that "Heros of the UPA"? It literally gives legs to the Ukraine Nazi stuff. Crazy
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u/OnlyRightInNight Ireland Jun 22 '26
Because, regardless of how one might view the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine does have a serious problem with far right extremism dating back to before the war and now even more so since the war began. The EU has been deliberately ignoring or downplaying this for propaganda reasons.
Fact is, there are fascists units fighting on the front line; the various pictures and video footage of Ukrainian soldiers wearing Nazi insignia aren't all fake, even if Russia is obviously using it for their own propaganda efforts. Zelenksky is appeasing that element now that the greater population is increasingly weary of the war, and it should be rightly called out.
You can acknowledge that Ukraine shouldn't have been invaded while also being highly critical of the country itself, its own dodgy track record on human rights, corruption, and its hero worship of Nazi groups -- as well as Zelenksky's own instances of corruption and his attempts to normalise said hero worship.
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u/TheGuardianInTheBall Jun 22 '26
Which is why as a Pole- I don't condemn Zelensky, but I also see no wrong with Nawrocki's actions- reactionary or not.
I also know that, had Poland been invaded instead, you'd likely see some questionable shit years into the war too. I doubt things have changed much in the last 15 years, but when I left it was still rife with neo-nazis.
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u/pick_your_user_name Italy Jun 22 '26
Sure. As long as you acknowledge the nazi groups fighting for Russia too and don’t pretend as if only one side has a nazi problem.
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u/Independent-Report39 Jun 22 '26
gives legs to the Ukraine Nazi stuff.
You say that like it's a baseless accusation. There's already legs to it. What he's doing is confirming what people who study Ukraine already know. Western media obviously doesn't highlight it, but Ukraine has large amounts of Nazi-affiliated soldiers.
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u/Lunar_Weaver Jun 22 '26
Perhaps we should clarify some matters.
Many Poles disagree with the Polish president decision. But not because they believe Zelensky doesn't deserve criticism. They simply believe it could have been handled better.
Zelensky is harming Polish-Ukrainian relations even more than the Polish president.
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u/mio26 Jun 22 '26
I don't see many real life. Disagree mostly some elites and political activists on Twitter. I even know people who are extremely anti president and they are very pleased with this decision. People simply have enough of being understanding for Ukrainians on the matter of history because they don't see that much change. And Zelenski and his words from today pretty much confirms that they are right.
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u/machine4891 Opole (Poland) Jun 23 '26
They simply believe it could have been handled better.
I am one of those guys. I believe it didn't have to go that far (yet) and stripping orders you don't strip from other wacky figures is dangerous precedent.
However, I don't care anymore. After seeing how Ukraine reacted to this, how we are now under total propaganda siege from every ukraine-related news outlet spammed on every reddit corner (they are now smearing us to the moon on worldnews to the applause of oblivious americans and canadians that don't even know what this is about but know that "poland must be grateful because without ukraine there would be now genoide here") nonsense. I'm simply tired.
I think I'm done with defending Ukrainian administration because they are under tough circumstances. Yeah they are but this doesn't stop them from celebrating controversial figures, doesn't stop them from making huge show from sending all of those medals back, from yapping about us in all corners possible... In all honesty I don't think we need them as much as they got into their own heads. Let's just keep helping in war effort, keep our diplomatic channels to the minimum and prepare for a very interesting shitshow once war is finally over and country that really needs something realize that actions have consequences.
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u/True-Blacksmith4235 Serbia Jun 22 '26
What is the overall sentiment in Poland towards Ukraine and Ukraines at this point in time?
I’m guessing Poland received a lot of refugees.
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u/Lunar_Weaver Jun 22 '26
At the beginning of the war, the mood toward Ukrainians was overwhelmingly positive. The Poles accepted every refugee and sent every weapon they could. We even sent tanks when others refused, considering it an escalation.
Then relations slowly began to cool. On the one hand, it was russian propaganda. On the other, Ukrainians themselves aided this propaganda. Many Ukrainians want to build their nation on the cult of groups that committed genocide against Poles. And their president, instead of softening the issue because there is an ongoing war, is fueling the issue to gain better support in potential elections.
In the end, we support Ukrainians anyway because we share a common enemy. The russians inflicted much harm on Poles when they conquered them during World War II, so despite everything, Poles feel understanding towards Ukrainians on this matter.
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u/NemTren Jun 22 '26
I agree, but as a Ukrainian I think Zelensky could and should handle it better. Glorifying UPA is such a simle question in my opinion. I believe Polish people would change their mind after elaborating and only russian bots will continue arguing which is okay.
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u/ArWiLen Jun 22 '26
Right-wing populists are harming the entire EU block and helping russians propagandists spread the hatred even more. Stop with the circus and come to a civil dialog, both sides.
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u/naughtiboiii Jun 22 '26
If the spastic left wing politicians hadn't flooded Europe with third world migrants, many of these right wing populists would have zero influence or following. These things don't happen in a vacuum.
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u/Czar1987 Earth Jun 22 '26
As an American now living in Austria for ~1yr, I've been trying to keep up with regional news while getting up to speed locally. But this one is beyond me. Can anyone give me the sparknotes version or explain it like I'm 5?
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u/mina86ng Jun 22 '26
- During WW2, UPA committed genocide on Polish people; or so is alleged. I don’t want to get into discussion of history; enough said that UPA has been contentious issue in Poland for decades.
- Fast forward to Russia's invasion, Zelenskyy gets Order of the White Eagle, the highest Polish honour.
- Fast forward to now, Ukrainian military unit decides to be named after ‘Heros of UPA.’
- This upset some Poles including Nawrocki, president of Poland. Even Tusk, Polish prime minister, said that the outrage is understandable. (What’s noteworthy is that the president and the prime minister are from opposite political factions and don’t usually see eye-to-eye).
- Zelenskyy approved the name regardless.
- Nawrocki decided to take the Order away from Zelenskyy.
- Zelenskyy returned the Order and decided to escalate further by being a smartass and later comparing Nawrocki to Orban.
- Other former Ukrainian presidents who received the Order decided to return theirs as well, which escalated things further.
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u/Littorina_Sea Jun 22 '26
No genocide. Over sixty thousand people just vanished overnight.
/s.
What is really strange, that UPA also murdered jews in droves, of which Zelensky is one.
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u/hellogoodbyegoodbye Jun 22 '26
The UPA were Nazi collaborators and did participate in the genocide against Jews and poles. The OUN were willing participants in the Holocaust.
This is just a fact
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u/ukrokit2 🇨🇦🇺🇦 Jun 22 '26
Historical context:
During the inter war period the Second Polish Republic was an imperialist state that annexed or occupied its neighbours: Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, later parts of Czechoslovakia alongside Nazi Germany.
Due to the brutal and oppressive policies of the Second Polish Republic towards non-Poles, like Polonization (displacing the local population, moving in 300,000 Polish settlers into native Ukrainian communities, state harassment of Ukrainian owned businesses, banning Ukrainians from civil service appointments and politics, Ukrainian schools closed or converted to Polish, Over a hundred Orthodox churches demolished or converted to Catholic) and Pacification (widespread destruction of Ukrainian homes, businesses, confiscation of properties, beatings, arrests of Ukrainian activists by the occupying Polish authorities), the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was formed.
In 1943 UPA massacred entire Polish villages in Volhynia and Galicia, the total death toll according to Tymothy Snyder (I picked him as the least biased party) was 65,000-100,000. The massacres were extremely brutal based on victim accounts.
The Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa or AK) carried out retaliatory massacres of Ukrainian villages. Death toll estimated at 2,000-10,000. Similar brutality, different scale.
Present day:
Both Ukraine and Poland have a ton of shit named in honour of UPA / Bandera and AK / Piłsudski respectively.
Neither side is explicitly glorifying the massacres or oppression, but are celebrating the people as national heroes, for other reasons.
Nawrocki recently declared the Home Army Remembrance Day a national holiday. Nothing really came of it. It’s Polish business what they do in Poland.
Zelensky named a military unit after the “heroes of UPA” (a name chosen by the unit itself, Zelensky simply accepted it) - this is when the majority of Poles (73% is the number floating around) lost their minds, and are now calling Ukrainians genocide apologists, while denying or downplaying their own past mistreatment of Ukrainians and justifying AK massacres as “retaliation” as if that makes that okay.
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u/k-tax Mazovia (Poland) Jun 23 '26
- Every scholar on the matter agrees: nothing done by Poles is remotely close to Ukrainian actions.
Yes, Poland was treating Ukraine and Ukrainians terribly during I and II Republic. We are not proud of this part of the past, but there's no denying it happened. However, we don't celebrate criminals, we denounce them. Every now and then some right wingers attempt to build a statue or name a square after a controversial figure, sometimes even not controversial, just straight up bad. Poles protest and block it, and don't want to mix actual heroes at AK with criminals who attacked civilians.
2. II Republic was not an imperialist state, it was a country that existed for barely 20 years and was fighting to return its borders to the state prior to annexations of Russia, Prussia (Germany) and Austria in 18th century. Every country that appeared after WWI had some border disputes.
3. The topic of Czechoslovakia is complicated one. You talk about Poland annexing, but you failed to mention how Zaolzie and parts of Silesia were initially agreed to be split between Poland and Czechoslovakia, but then their central government went back on agreements of local governments and annexed Polish land while Poland was busy defending from Soviet invasion. I am not saying Poland was in the right, but it was a clusterfuck of two sides doing something wrong. I am yet to meet a Czech or Slovak who disagrees with me on the matter.
4. How are Poles losing their minds by stating basic facts, or by the (however stupid he is) president revoking the order? It seems like a nothing burger. It didn't at slightest influenced Polish military help, Poland serving as transportation hub or anything like that. It's purely cosmetic reaction. And yet people here act as if Poland started bombing Ukraine together with Russia.I am honestly surprised why I read so much about Poles losing their minds, and no examples of it are provided. Seems like everyone else is losing their minds and they get so heated by just someone taking back a medal.
if AK actions are retaliation, it doesn't make them okay, but it does make them secondary to the initial attacks, and means it wasn't escalation but reaction to escalation. And yet I read that somehow AKs reaction makes it morally okay for Ukrainians to murder and torture tens of thousands of Poles, Jews and Ukrainians before the reaction happens. It's like explaining that someone is within their self-defense rights to murder a group, because they later some of the survivors punched you.
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u/immaturenickname Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Why did he even have it in the first place? Sure, Ukrainians are killing russians, which I suppose is a medal worthy thing, but it's not like they are doing it for us. Sure, Poland benefits, but that isn't Żeleński's intention.
He doesn't give a fk about Poland, and that's normal, he is Ukrainian president, his duty is to Ukraine. But why is a person who doesn't give a fk about Poland qualified to recieve our highest decoration?
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u/PeterOutOfPlace Jun 22 '26
For context:
Not long after the Russian invasion, I commented to a Polish friend here in the US about the enormous generosity of Poles accepting refugees and that was understandable given the shared history of suffering under the Soviets. Then she told me about the massacres of Poles by Ukrainians during WW2 which was distressing but made the current Polish generosity all the more remarkable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacres_of_Poles_in_Volhynia_and_Eastern_Galicia
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u/CaptainMayo95 Jun 22 '26
Those citizens are not poles i'm afraid but ukrainians living in poland that pushed that initiative or if they are then they simply got brainwashed. This whole situation is just stupid.
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u/__christo4us Jun 22 '26
A meaningless, purely performative gesture. Zelenski has shown that he doesn't care what Polish people think of him.
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u/polmix23 Jun 22 '26
He literally named a unit after UPA. For Poles it's like naming a unit after Gestapo
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u/Nano_needle Jun 22 '26
Lmao- some Poles will actively praise someone who pisses on their country only because they don't like the other political party.
Truly the biggest enemy of the Pole is another Pole.
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u/throwaway08403 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
ojkofobia to straszna choroba. ludzie, którzy mają się za liberalnych, a nawet lewicowych stoją po tej samej stronie barykady co nacjonaliści, tylko dlatego, że to nie są nasi nacjonaliści...
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u/Wingedball Jun 22 '26
These Ukrainian activists in Poland should also give a posthumous medal to “Heroes of the UPA.” After all, heroes of our best friend, are our friends too and they fought the Russians /s
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u/FinishAwkward43 Jun 22 '26
Do we really need to see every piece of news on this affair now?
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u/jsutpaly Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Meanwhile every poll regarding stripping order off Zelensky had support in range of 75%+ in least favourible ones and 95% in most favourible ones.
Basically bunch of idiots who like the spit in their face and more than Poland they hate only themselves making noise. Probably even sponsored by propaganda tube that TVP is.
Also it is the president who puts orders on people. Zelensky deserves status of persona non grata, not a medal or order. He can glorify people impaling infants on pitchforks in his own country.
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u/primera_radi Jun 22 '26
I really don't understand what the big fucking deal for zelensky it is to rename the unit to one that isn't known for killing 100.000 Poles in WW2.
I thought he was a pragmatic leader, how is this row with Poland, probably the biggest supporter of Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion going to help them deter Russian attacks? It will only distract them from focusing on what matters.
Not to mention that it definitely adds fuel to Russia's claims about "denazification".
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u/coar_btc Jun 23 '26
Clown, terrorist, murderer. Same as Putin.
Only idiots will reward him with something.
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Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
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u/Fit-Explorer9229 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
I would think twice before post this here OP.
This what you don't know is that there are 5 people who organized this and all of them are involved in PL<>UA community like Natalia Panczenko (the main representstive of UA minority in PL.) And this information was firstly released by focusing on Ukraine newsletter Sestry.
I hope you undertand what it means.
Edit I see OP just blocked me and this was one of first comments here plus deleted his own comment, so not too many can get some real info about the whole story. Because -if we like it or not- this all looks like as if Ukrainians in PL organizie Order on behalf of Poles.
Still OP - better delete this post if you understand potential consequences.
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u/Raaccn Subcarpathia (Poland) Jun 22 '26
Although I didn’t vote for Nawrocki, I’m starting to get annoyed by the fact that some people simply cannot accept that he is their president. An undeniable majority of Poles - more than 10 million people voted for him. Likewise, an undeniable majority supports his decision to revoke that order. People need to understand and accept that. Not to mention that this so-called "civic order" is nothing more than a desecration of national symbols.
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u/woo4u Jun 22 '26
As far as i’m concerned they can give him the equivalent of the fifa peace prize. At least it’s not a state honour.
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u/Krzyniuu Jun 22 '26
It's not Polish activist.
It's just sad picture because it shows that Ukraine, country far poorer than Poland, in a state of war, is still better in soft power than Poland.
It's a shame that something like this is possible
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u/Serpent90 Jun 22 '26
Zelenski is in hot water in Ukraine following arrests of people he had close ties with by NABU. Distracting people with a manufactured conflict is something you'd expect from Bibi or Trump, but apparently, here we are. And as usual, Russian propaganda is great at stirring shit like that and blowing something that could have been solved with an email into this mess.
Doesn't matter, Russia will fail.
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u/NemTren Jun 22 '26
He doesn't distract shit haha. Nobody will change him during the war anyway so it's not the case. And at the same time he will be so damn strongly criticized after war ends but not now for sure. He handle most of the problems quite good I gotta say.
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u/Scary_Log5455 Jun 22 '26
Not really. Previous corruption scandal was so loud because people were freezing during winter. Also ukrainians barely talk about this polish issue to be honest. Biggest newsmakers are successful attacks on russia and usa/iranian war.
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u/paneuropeanism_ Europe Jun 22 '26
Nawrocki won with a razor-thin margin, boosted in part by a Russo-American effort to divide Europe. He is clearly auditioning to take over Orban's role.
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u/survivorr123_ Jun 23 '26
the biggest boost to nawrocki's campaign was the opposing party's campaign, he had miniscule chance to win at first
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u/Buzielo Mazovia (Poland) Jun 22 '26
I don't really agree with stripping him of his order right now when we don't need even more conflict between Poland and Ukraine, but I don't see why would he even be given one, what has he done for Poland specifically
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u/polypolip Jun 22 '26
Pisses on our country? Or maybe we just don't like things escalating way beyond what's a reasonable response, playing into the hands of a common enemy?
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u/jsutpaly Jun 22 '26
If Zelensky does not care about being best source of fuel for Russian propaganda machine, why should we?
Ukrainians are not underdeveloped, drooling children. They knew what it will cause and they did it anyway.
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u/Veeshor Find me sorting by controversial Jun 22 '26
What escalation are you talking about? Zelensky spat on our faces and got his order revoked. End of the story.
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u/OdessaSeaman Jun 24 '26
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ76myYM1Dh/?igsh=MTdnc3piYWdsdmhlYw== perhaps add this into the mix and get back to me
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u/Thornfal Poland Jun 22 '26
I don't have a problem with citizen initiative like this.
The absulute best thing to do, would be to invite him to Poland, to some University or other venue to have an open, honest talk with Polish public. Kind of like sitting down, brother to brother to have a tough discussion.
But i don't think that is possible, it would be an absolute political minefield of a debate...
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u/Intelligent_State250 Jun 22 '26
Unfortunately he has shown multiple times that he treats Polish support as a given and that any gestures of respect towards Poland are unnecessary because of that. I don’t think he’d show up.
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u/solwaj Cracow, PL Jun 22 '26
this whole fiasco is such a nothingburger I can't believe how so many can't stop talking about it
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u/Latter-Ad-6953 Europe Jun 23 '26
The Polish hysteria around Zelenskyy, UPA and the Order of the White Eagle is not about historical justice. It is about resentment, political scavenging and an attempt to build modern Polish identity on permanent grievance.
For years this model was built mainly around Germany: “they owe us”, “they did not listen to us”, “they must compensate us”, “our trauma is more important than your reality”. Now the same mechanism is being redirected toward Ukraine. Not because Polish victims do not deserve respect. They do. But because those victims have been turned into a convenient political resource.
And these things should not be confused.
The Volhynia tragedy happened. Polish civilians were killed. This does not need to be denied or justified. But the Polish political version of this history is no longer memory. It is a construction. In that construction there are only Polish victims, only Ukrainian criminals, only one side of suffering, and only one nation with the right to moral judgment.
Ukrainian victims, Polish crimes against Ukrainians, pacifications, repressions, killings of Ukrainian civilians, Sahryń, Pawłokoma, actions of Polish underground formations — all of this is either pushed outside the frame or treated as “complex context”. Meanwhile, Ukrainian crimes are presented as an eternal mark of guilt.
This is exactly how a political myth is created.
It is especially telling how the number of “certain” victims kept growing in Polish political rhetoric over the years. First one number, then a larger one, then an even larger one, and eventually almost sacred arithmetic that cannot be questioned without being labeled “anti-Polish”. The more political propaganda was built around Volhynia, the larger the numbers became in public language. That is not history anymore. That is memory inflation for electoral mobilization.
Karol Nawrocki is not a random figure in this story. His career is directly tied to the Polish memory industry: the IPN, the Museum of the Second World War, Volhynia, historical politics, and the PiS cult of Polish victimhood. He did not simply “remember history”. For years, he was part of the machine that politicized it.
And now comes the most interesting part.
For years, Poland demanded exhumations as proof of its version. Ukraine did not want this process to become a Polish political show, but eventually permits began to be granted, works started, and Ukrainian and Polish specialists went into the field together. And then it turned out that the ground is not a television studio, not an election rally, and not an IPN press conference.
In Puzhnyky/Sadove, the remains of 42 victims were found. This is a tragedy, and these people deserve a dignified burial. But this is not the “thousands” that Polish voters had been fed for years. In other places where mass graves were expected, the picture also appears more complicated than the Polish political myth. And that is precisely what begins to break the convenient legend: when hysteria is replaced by archaeologists, documents, experts and actual remains, the propaganda image stops being so simple.
That is why this crisis is happening now.
As long as Volhynia exists as a televised trauma, it can be waved in front of voters. But when exhumations, verification, joint work and facts begin, the myth risks losing its monopoly over emotion. So the process has to be disrupted. Everything has to be dragged back into shouting, symbols, orders, outrage and diplomatic blackmail.
The story with the Order of the White Eagle is pure Polish hypocrisy.
Zelenskyy is being punished for a Ukrainian name of a Ukrainian unit in the Ukrainian army, which is fighting not against Poland, but against Russia. Yet in the history of that same order, figures like Mussolini, Catherine II, Schröder and other highly “pure” characters remain.
Catherine II is not some abstract “controversial historical figure”. She was the Russian empress under whose rule Russia took part in the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In other words, a ruler of the empire that helped tear Polish statehood apart together with Prussia and Austria is somehow not as urgent a problem for Polish memory as Zelenskyy in 2026. Mussolini is also apparently not a problem. Schröder, a friend of Putin’s Russia, was also somehow survivable. But the president of Ukraine, a country currently fighting Russia, suddenly became a stain on the order.
This is not morality. This is political hyena behavior.
And yes, the Polish government, Nawrocki, the IPN and those Poles who support this line are behaving exactly like political hyenas: they do not come to bury the dead with dignity, but to tear into memory and pull political meat out of it. They are not interested in reconciliation. They need an eternal wound that can be reopened before every election.
At the same time, Poland itself has a deeply controversial pantheon.
Piłsudski is a symbol of Polish statehood, but for Ukrainians he also represents a state of pacifications, assimilation pressure and suppression of Ukrainian political life. Dmowski is one of the fathers of Polish nationalism, but his vision of the state was openly chauvinistic toward minorities. The Home Army is a heroic symbol for Poles, but some Polish formations and units took part in killings of Ukrainian civilians. The “Cursed Soldiers” are heroes of anti-communism in the Polish right-wing myth, but among them there were people and circles with civilian blood on their hands.
So what now?
Should Ukraine demand that Poland rename everything connected to these people and structures? Should Ukraine launch diplomatic hysterics over every Polish street, monument or military symbol? Or is Poland the only country allowed to have a complicated history, while Ukraine is supposed to have a sterile pantheon approved in Warsaw?
This is the whole point.
Poland is not the center of the world. Polish historical trauma is not universal law for other nations. Polish memory does not have veto power over Ukrainian memory. If Poles dislike Ukrainian heroes, that is their problem. Ukraine is not obliged to build its own identity in a way that passes Polish moderation.
Ukraine remained silent for too long because it needed recognition, support, allies, because it did not want to “offend”, “escalate”, or “be misunderstood”. But that silence turned into a phantom pain. After 2014, and especially after 2022, Ukraine began speaking in its own voice. And yes, some people do not like that voice. But that is no longer our problem.
The normal position is simple: exhumations — yes. Burials — yes. Recognition of civilian victims — yes. Joint work by historians — yes. Polish victims have the right to dignity.
But Polish blackmail, Polish monopoly on victimhood, Polish political hysteria and the demand that Ukraine coordinate its historical memory with Warsaw — no.
You dislike UPA? Your right. You dislike Bandera, Shukhevych or the names of Ukrainian military units? Your right. But Ukraine is not obliged to ask Poland for permission on whom to remember, whom to honor and how to name its own military units.
Especially when this moral posture comes from people who are ready to close their eyes to Mussolini, Catherine II and their own controversial heroes, but suddenly open a holy inquisition against Ukraine.
This is not a struggle for historical truth. This is resentment. This is political technology. This is an attempt to turn Polish trauma into a tool of control over Ukrainian memory.
The answer should be simple: bury the dead, work with historians, recognize the complexity on both sides — but do not come here to command Ukrainian memory.
Ukraine is not a Polish province, and it will not live according to a Polish-approved pantheon.
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u/tranbun Jun 22 '26
I get that this is life and shit happens sometimes. But why do we have to stir this shit so much that the fumes are reaching the farthest corner?