
Zelensky returns the White Eagle Order after Poland revoked the award β historical tensions test Ukraine's allies
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned the White Eagle Order, Poland's highest award, following Warsaw's decision to revoke it due to Ukraine's renaming of the 103rd Separate Mechanized Brigade as the 'UPA Brigade' in honor of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The incident triggered a chain reaction: two former Ukrainian presidents and senior officials also returned similar awards. This tension reveals deep historical woundsβparticularly the mass killings of ethnic Poles in Volhynia between 1943 and 1945βwhich now test the resilience of strategic cooperation between the two countries in the war against Russia.