Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on his Telegram channel that he had sent the Order of the White Eagle, which was taken away from him, to Polish President Karol Nawrocki.
The politician attached photos from the mail.
„We believed that the Order of the White Eagle was addressed to the Ukrainian people and our army in 2023. This was said then“, Zelensky wrote.
He noted that this award - a symbol of Poland's highest trust - is still in the possession of the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, the creator of Italian fascism Benito Mussolini and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
According to the Ukrainian president, Despite the return of the order, Kiev is grateful to the Polish people for their support and cooperation in the confrontation with Russia and will be open to meaningful interaction with Warsaw in the future.
Previously, Polish President Nawrotski stripped Zelenski of the republic's highest decoration - the Order of the White Eagle. He took this step after a brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces was named, according to Nawrotski, after a group of pro-Nazi collaborators who carried out the Volyn massacre. The Polish government said that "only Moscow will benefit" from the president's decision.
In Ukraine, Nawrotski's move has already been criticized; in a sign of solidarity with Zelenski, diplomats and the head of the presidential administration have renounced their Polish decorations.