President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had sent the Order of the White Eagle back to the President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki. He did this via Nova Poshta after the Polish President had previously stripped this state award from a Ukrainian.

Zelensky added that Ukraine is grateful to the Polish people for their support and cooperation, which play a significant role in the struggle for our and your independence from Russia. He also noted that Ukraine will continue to be open to all meaningful formats of interaction with Poland in an effort to 'avoid misinterpretations of the complex and painful pages of our nations' past and ensure due respect for all innocent victims of the 20th century'.

We remind you that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky awarded the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary title "named after the Heroes of UPA". 

The text of the decree states that the decision was made "with the aim of restoring historical traditions of the national army" and in view of "exemplary fulfillment of assigned tasks during the defense of the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine".

Reference: The 140th Special Operations Center, known as Special Operations Center "North," is one of the elite and most classified units of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was established in 2007 on the basis of the 8th Special Forces Regiment.

The unit specializes in conducting special operations. In 2019, the center received NATO SOF certification and was included in the NATO Response Force.

Order of the White Eagle

Volodymyr Zelensky was awarded the Order of the White Eagle in April 2023 by the then-President Andrzej Duda "as a sign of recognition of outstanding merits in deepening friendly and comprehensive relations between Poland and Ukraine, developing cooperation for democracy, peace, and security in Europe, as well as for his steadfastness in defending the inalienable rights of man".

The Order of the White Eagle is the oldest and highest state award of the Republic of Poland, awarded for great civilian and military merits to the country. It is awarded to the most outstanding Poles and the highest representatives of foreign states.

Historian Ihor Halagida told "Your City" the truth and myths about the Volhynia tragedy, about the 30,000 Ukrainian victims of that period, 20,000 of whom are named, why Sahryń should become a new symbol for Ukrainians, and proposes a constructive approach to the Polish-Ukrainian discussion – not to argue about who started it first and who is to blame. Read here.