A conflict between politicians in Poland and Ukraine is a strategic mistake that will harm both sides, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has cautioned, as he seeks to defuse a rekindled dispute over events that occurred during the second world war. Polish president Karol Nawrocki on Friday stripped Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country’s top honour, prompting three former Ukrainian presidents and other senior officials to return their state awards to Poland. Nawrocki revoked the Order of the White Eagle after Zelenskyy angered many in Poland by renaming a Ukrainian army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, nationalists who massacred Poles during the second world war.
“Wading into a conflict between politicians in Poland and Ukraine is a strategic mistake that will harm both sides: business-wise, geopolitically, and reputationally. And in politics, as we know, a mistake is worse than a crime,” Tusk wrote in a post on X. The pro-European Tusk was elected prime minister in 2023, after leading a coalition that defeated the nationalist Law and Justice party with which Nawrocki is aligned.
Zelenskyy, in an interview posted on X, said Ukraine and Poland cannot be “anything but partners and friends,” adding that a political struggle could end in a “very dangerous escalation”. “Our service members choose a heroic name for their unit themselves, and as president and supreme commander-in-chief, I must support them,” he said. “Without Ukraine, no one will be able to defend Poland. It is simply impossible.”
Officials in Russia-occupied Crimea have suspended civilian gasoline sales as Ukraine increases attacks on fuel supplies. The Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea said Ukrainian strikes killed four people and wounded 28 others overnight. He said local petrol stations will now only sell fuel to government agencies. The Crimean peninsula has had periodic fuel shortages from Ukrainian strikes before, but the current crisis is the worst since its 2014 annexation. Social networks are filled with requests for fuel, and some speculators are selling gas at double the market price.
Zelenskyy described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia’s energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy said in a statement that a Crimean oil depot, as well as an oil transport facility in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region were among the targets. “Russia understands only strength, and our long-range strength is certainly working for peace,” he said. Separately, overnight Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine killed three people.
Ukraine has in recent months also stepped up drone attacks on energy facilities in Russia, striking targets deep behind the frontlines. Last week, it hit a large refinery in Moscow twice. Ukraine says the attacks are aimed at denting oil revenues that Russia uses to fund the war. Some petrol stations in Russia, the world’s third-biggest oil producer, introduced fuel rationing this month. Fuel exports have been banned since April. Energy Intelligence, a US-based energy research firm, said earlier this month that about a third of Russian oil refining capacity had gone offline because of Ukrainian strikes.