Relations between Poland and Ukraine have been mired in crisis since Ukrainian PresidentĀ Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a military unit the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA.”
The initials stand for the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, whichĀ was instrumental to the killing of up to 100,000 Polish civilians during World War II. Poland is marking a national day of remembrance for the victims on Saturday.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Poland has provided Ukraine with extensive military support, including weapons and equipment.Ā Until recently, military cooperation between the neighboring countries, which both view Russia as an existential threat, had been accepted by all political parties and was largely kept separate from Poland’s domestic political disputes.
Lingering ‘historical issues’
Poland’s far-right opposition is attacking the center-right government over the delivery of Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine. The opposition accuses pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk of putting Poland’s own military defenseĀ at risk.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Zelenskyy sought a way out of the crisis on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday ā€” without success. “There has been a lot of tension in Polish-Ukrainian relations recently,” Nawrocki told journalists after the hourlong meeting. “We have not managed to resolve historical issues,” he said. Glorification of the UPA is “nonnegotiable,” Nawrocki said, making no secret of his skepticism about Ukraine’s ambitions to join the European Union.
The dispute over Poland’s Patriot missiles was triggered by Krzysztof Bosak, leader of the ultranationalistĀ National Movement. “In March, hidden from the Sejm, the government handed over expensive and hard-to-obtain interceptor missiles for Patriot systems,” Bosak,Ā the deputy speaker of parliament, wrote on X on July 4. He said the weapons that the government had given to Ukraine were necessary to Poland’s own national defense against Russia. The National Movement has long demanded an end to military aid for Ukraine.
‘Increasingly confrontational stance’
Former Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Marcin Przydacz, who is now responsible for foreign policy in the president’s office, called Bosak’s assumption “highly likely.” Przydacz accused the government of giving up Poland’s place in the queue for orderingĀ US weapons in favor of Ukraine. “Poles will now have to wait longer,” Przydacz said.
Przemyslaw Czarnek, who is likely to be the top candidate for the national conservative Law and Justice party in the 2027 parliamentary elections, said Poland had been “deprived of strategic weapons without the knowledge of parliament and the president.”
“Ukraine has not treated Poland like a partner for two years now and is taking an increasingly confrontational stance,” Czarnek said.
In a bid to defuse criticism from the opposition, the Tusk government took a risky step. Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz published previously secret data on the scale of Poland’s military aid since the outbreak of the war. According to the data, Poland has spent 16.45 billion zloty (ā‚¬3.8 billion/$4.35 billion) since Russia’s invasion, with the largest share of that sum ā€” 14.9 billion zloty ā€” paidĀ duringĀ the PiS government in 2022-2023.
Was defense compromised?
The decision to hand over PAC-3 interceptor missiles for Patriot systems was made at the request of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the commander of US forces in Europe, Alexus Grynkewich. Poland’s air defense was in no way compromised, Defense Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz said. He added that President Nawrocki had been informed about this plan in detail.
Polish media highlight a paradox: Until recently the government and the opposition were competing over who had done more for Ukraine. Now, both sides are accusing each other of having supplied Ukraine with too many weapons. Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s prime minister when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, had been a firm supporter of military aid. “That was the deal: We supply you with 50-year-old tanks and you fight and shed your own blood,” he said. “I think that was a good deal for us.”
The downturn in relations between Poland and Ukraine is affecting another arms swap.Ā At the end of 2025, Poland’s government had promised to deliver MiG fighter jets to Ukraine. In return, Poland was to receive modern drone technology from Ukraine. According to Poland’s government, Kyiv demanded that Poland modernize the jets before the deal could go ahead. Warsaw declined to do so, although Defense Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz said the agreement was notĀ definitively off the table.
European Parliament’s stance
On Wednesday the European Parliament adopted a resolution classifying Zelenskyy’s UPA honor as an unnecessary and unprovoked escalation in the dispute between the neighbors. Members of the European Parliament called the honor incompatible with EU values, but urged both Poland and Ukraine to resume the process of reconciliation.
Nawrocki had reacted to Zelenskyy’s honoring of the Ukrainian army unit by stripping him of Poland’s highest award, the Order of the White Eagle. Zelenskyy sent the order back by courier ā€” and went a step further. At his request, Ukraine’s parliament passed a law in July to establish a National Pantheon ā€” essentially a state-sanctioned memorial site or institution meant to honor historical and military figures whom the government considers heroes, including units associated with the UPA. “No one will ever force us how to live and speak, whom to love, whom we should be grateful to and which heroes we should honor,” Zelenskyy said.
In Poland, July 11 is observed as an official day of remembrance for the Volhynia massacre, in which the UPA attacked Polish-majority villages starting in February 1943 in order to create favorable conditions for a Ukrainian nation-state after World War II. On July 11, 1943, a day commemorated by Poles as “Bloody Sunday,” 99 locations were attacked.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, expects tensions with Poland to increase around the anniversary. “This peak is certain to come soon,” he said. “That is no secret. July 11 marks the anniversary of the Volhynia tragedy. Information I have indicates that the Polish side is preparing actions that will lead to escalation.”
This article was originally published in German.