President Karol Nawrocki’s announcement that he may seek to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest state decoration, the Order of the White Eagle, sparked a major reaction across social media. According to an analysis published by Res Futura Data House, an overwhelming majority of online users (97.4 percent) expressed support for the Polish president’s proposal.
In a decree issued on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had bestowed the honorary name “Heroes of the UPA” on the Independent Special Operations Center “North” of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He stated that the decision was made “to restore the historical traditions of the national military and in recognition of the exemplary fulfillment of assigned tasks in defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence.”
Speaking to journalists today, President Karol Nawrocki said that “by naming a Ukrainian military unit after the ‘Heroes of the UPA,’ the President of Ukraine has provided the best possible material and ample fuel for Russian propaganda.” He described Zelenskyy’s decision as “highly problematic” and said he viewed it “very critically.”
The Polish president also announced that the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle will convene on June 8. He added: “I have proposed that one of the agenda items be the revocation of the decoration awarded to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.”
President’s declaration receives near-unanimous support online
According to the analysis published by Res Futura Data House, reactions on social media were overwhelmingly favorable toward the Polish president’s proposal, approaching unanimous support.
The data indicate that as many as 97.4 percent of opinion-forming comments expressed support for the initiative put forward by the head of state. Only 2.6 percent of the analyzed posts took a critical stance.
Res Futura analysts emphasized that such a high level of approval for a political position is exceptionally rare. In a commentary accompanying the report, they noted that “for the past eight months, the president has not enjoyed such complete acceptance online.”
The study covered comments published on the major social media platforms, including Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. According to the authors of the analysis, the discussion is estimated to have reached more than four million users.