WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A decision by Polish President Karol Nawrocki to strip Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest state honor was beneficial to Moscow, which has an interest in seeing Kyiv in conflict with its allies, Ukrainian officials said.
Nawrocki announced on Friday that he will strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle over the Ukrainian leader’s decision to name a military unit after a Ukrainian paramilitary organization accused of massacring Poles during World War II.
Former Polish President Andrzej Duda bestowed the award on Zelenskyy in 2023 for services to security, resilience and the defense of human rights.
Zelenskyy issued a decree on May 26 naming a military unit of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, which operated during the 1940s and 1950s and has been accused in Poland of mass killings.
“For the majority of Polish society, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army remains above all a formation responsible for cruel crimes against the citizens of the Polish Republic during World War II,” Nawrocki said in a 13-minute address on social media.
The decision to revoke the honor did not mean Poland’s support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia would decrease, Nawrocki said.
Ukrainian Presidential Office chief Kyrylo Budanov wrote on Telegram that Nawrocki's decision was “an unfriendly act toward our people” and “a gift to the Moscow aggressor, which will certainly use it against both of our countries.”
Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the decision “a strategic mistake by the President of Poland, one that benefits only Moscow.”
Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar said the decision was “especially painful” as Ukrainians battle missile and drone attacks.
All three Ukrainian officials said they would return orders issued to them by the Polish state.
Poland is scheduled to host a major event on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction next week, which Zelenskyy is expected to attend.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political rival of Nawrocki, urged the two leaders to “calm emotions, not stoke tensions.”
“The front line runs elsewhere,” Tusk wrote on social media Friday night, adding that the conflict between Poland and Ukraine “delights Putin and shocks our allies.”
Zelenskyy’s May decree said the designation was meant to restore the historical traditions of the national military and recognize the unit’s performance in defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence.
The UPA fought for Ukrainian independence against both Nazi German and Soviet forces. But it has been accused of killing tens of thousands of Poles, most in the Nazi-occupied regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. In 2016, the Polish Parliament recognized the crimes committed by UPA as genocide.
Ukrainians say armed formations on both sides, including the UPA and Polish underground forces, were involved in attacks and reprisals that led to large-scale civilian casualties among Poles and Ukrainians.
Poland and Ukraine had recently made progress on the issue of exhumation of Polish victims. A December meeting between the two presidents in Warsaw had signaled progress on historical reconciliation.
Yurchuk reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
FILE - Polish President Karol Nawrocki, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend an official welcome ceremony before their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)
NEW DELHI (AP) — Supporters of India’s viral Cockroach Janta Party banged steel plates with spoons in a protest Saturday to demand the resignation of the education minister over allegations of examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks.
The protest near Parliament in New Delhi by hundreds of students and young supporters of the nascent movement added to the pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government while also seeking wider support among Indians.
Authorities deployed heavy security and police used cameras and drones to monitor the protest.
Some carried placards and others banged plates, their noise cutting through the crowd protesting and demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The banging of plates appeared to satirize Modi’s call for Indians to step onto balconies and rooftops and bang utensils in solidarity with front-line health workers during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, a political communications strategist and Boston University student, urged supporters on social media to bring plates and spoons on Saturday. “There is a virus called Dharmendra Pradhan that has to be removed,” he told the crowd, adding that the CJP was open to talks with the government if Pradhan stepped down.
"This is just the beginning. If Dharmendra Pradhan doesn’t resign or if no action is taken regarding this issue, this protest will not end here,” said a CJP supporter, Deepak Kumar.
The exam paper for a nationwide medical program was leaked last month through social media app Telegram. Authorities subsequently postponed the exam and also temporarily banned Telegram in India. The exam is scheduled to be held on Sunday. The government says the leak is under investigation.
“We study in poverty, live in poverty for 24 hours everyday, for years at length, and after that our (exam) papers get leaked. Will I not get angry at this?” said student Vicky Kumar.
The movement emerged in May, after Supreme Court Judge Surya Kant’s remarks comparing some unemployed youth to “cockroaches” triggered outrage. Supporters embraced the term as a symbol of resilience, helping the group amass more than 22 million followers on Instagram.
The movement’s message has since expanded to include concerns over unemployment, rising living costs and government accountability.
The CJP mixes self-deprecating humor with political criticism. Supporters jokingly call themselves unemployed and chronically online, while videos and memes mocking unemployment, corruption and political dysfunction have attracted millions of views. Many parody CJP accounts have also adopted the cockroach as a satirical political symbol.
Abhijeet Dipke, center, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party addresses supporters during a protest demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party addresses supporters during a protest demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Indian security personnel stand guard during a protest demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party wear masks during a protest demonstration demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Abhijeet Dipke, center, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party gestures as he holds the photograph of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhim Rao Ambedkar during a protest demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
