Ukraine's Zelenskiy says he returned state decoration to Polish president

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday he had returned a state decoration a day after Poland's president said he had stripped him of the award in connection with a dispute over events in World War Two.



Three former Ukrainian presidents said they were also returning their state awards to Poland, as did other senior officials.



Polish President Karol Nawrocki said on Friday he had revoked the Order of the White Eagle awarded to Zelenskiy in 2023 after the Ukrainian president renamed a military unit in honour of World War Two-era Ukrainian insurgents accused of massacring Poles.



The row over the role of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) threatens to deepen a diplomatic rift between the close strategic partners as Kyiv rallies allies to push Russia to end its more than four-year-old war on Ukraine.