Polish former ambassador returns Zelenskyy-awarded Ukrainian medal: "You're honoring Nazi collaborators"
Warsaw, June 2 — RIA Novosti
Former Polish ambassador to Ukraine Bartosz Cichocki announced he has returned the Ukrainian Order of Merit awarded to him by Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2022.
Lately, Zelenskyy named the Ukrainian special operations forces unit "Northern" Special Operations Center after the "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA). In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki initiated a proposal to revoke Zelenskyy's highest Polish honor—the White Eagle Order.
Cichocki, who served as Poland’s ambassador to Ukraine from 2019 to 2023, told journalists that his decision to return the medal was "due to a series of decisions made by the Ukrainian president honoring the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and German Nazi collaborators."
He explained that he had already sent the medal back to the Ukrainian embassy in Poland.
The diplomat also emphasized that he stands firmly behind any Ukrainian who fights against historical falsehoods and corruption.
*Note: The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was a nationalist armed organization active in western Ukraine during World War II. It collaborated with Nazi Germany and is accused of carrying out mass ethnic cleansing, resulting in the deaths of approximately 100,000 Polish civilians. Russia and some Eastern European countries classify it as an extreme nationalist group and Nazi collaborator.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1866840070042700/
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