KYIV, Ukraine — Top Ukrainian officials said on Saturday they were returning Polish awards after President Volodymyr Zelensky was stripped of Warsaw’s top order, in a row between the allies over WWII massacres.

Zelensky infuriated neighboring Poland this month by naming a military unit after the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) that took part in massacres against Poles in WWII.

On Friday, hard-right Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle — the highest honor in Poland — despite requests from both Kyiv and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

On Saturday, Zelensky’s top aide and Ukraine’s ambassador to Warsaw followed Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga in saying they were relinquishing awards bestowed by Poland as a way of showing solidarity with the president.

They argued the move by Nawrocki benefited Russia, whose war with Ukraine is now in its fifth year.

“This is a gift to the Moscow aggressor, who will certainly use it against both of our countries,” Zelensky aide Kyrylo Budanov said on social media.

He said he was returning the Gold Officer’s Cross of the Polish Order of Merit.

Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar said he was relinquishing his Knight’s Cross of the Polish Order of Merit, describing Nawrocki’s move as “especially painful and emotional” and “a gesture directed at the entire Ukrainian people.”

Sybiga said on Friday he planned to return an award he received from Poland in 2022 after........

© The Times of Israel