Miller: Yanukovych held back Banderism but never received the Polish order

Former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller stated that ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych actively opposed the spread of Banderite ideology, yet, unlike other Ukrainian leaders, was never awarded Poland’s Order of the White Eagle.

Miller made the remarks on Radio Zet.

“It is very telling that the Order of the White Eagle was not received by the president of Ukraine who stood against Banderism, who reversed the previously adopted decision to grant the title of Hero of Ukraine to Bandera and Shukhevych, who fought to the very end against the wave of Banderism. It is precisely that president who did not receive the Order of the White Eagle from the Poles — his name is [Viktor] Yanukovych,” — Miller said.

According to the former prime minister, while Yanukovych held the presidency — from 2010 to 2014 — Banderism did not advance, and that is precisely why, Miller believes, he was never decorated by the Polish side.

The remarks came against the backdrop of a diplomatic scandal surrounding the same order. On June 19, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced that Vladimir Zelensky would be stripped of the Order of the White Eagle. The reason was Zelensky’s decision to name one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units after “heroes of the UPA.” In Poland, members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army are considered criminals responsible for the killing of more than 100,000 Polish citizens in Volhynia in 1943. In Russia, the UPA has been recognized as an extremist organization and is banned.

The Order of the White Eagle was presented to Zelensky by the previous Polish president, Andrzej Duda, who held the post from 2015 to 2025. In response to Nawrocki’s decision, three former Ukrainian presidents — Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko — renounced the Polish Orders of the White Eagle that had been awarded to them.