Budanov warns Warsaw is planning immature escalatory steps over Volyn tragedy

The peak of escalation in Ukrainian-Polish relations "will definitely be ahead," Budanov said.

"There is no great secret here. We have a little less than a week left until July 11, which marks the anniversary of the Volyn tragedy. From the information I possess, they [the Poles] are preparing a whole series of, in my opinion, immature escalatory steps. Therefore, obviously, all this will continue now."

Ukraine will not accept ultimatums "from anyone in this world," and Russia was the last to try to issue one, Budanov emphasized.

"No offense to Poland — but it [Russia] is a bit more powerful than Poland. And we still did not accept it. Yes, it's hard, it's bad, there is a lot of blood. But we didn't even accept their ultimatum. So why does anyone think we will accept something else from another party? There is no need to speak to us with ultimatums."

Ukraine will respond to these steps from Poland, and "no one will sit silently," he added.

Escalating Ukraine-Poland tensions

Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country's highest state award, the Order of the White Eagle, on June 19. Nawrocki was outraged by the decision to name an Armed Forces of Ukraine unit after the Heroes of the UPA.

Following this, Zelenskyy compared the Polish president to former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who exploited the Ukrainian topic for election ratings, and called the situation a "story that will end badly."

A number of Ukrainian politicians and officials announced they were renouncing their Polish awards on June 20. Among them were head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov, President of Ukraine from 1994 to 2005 Leonid Kuchma, President from 2005 to 2010 Viktor Yushchenko, and President from 2014 to 2019 Petro Poroshenko.

That same day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he sent the Order of the White Eagle back to the Polish president, publishing a photo from a Nova Poshta branch.

Amid the worsening relations, the President of Ukraine did not attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk. Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko led the Ukrainian delegation at the event held on June 25–26.

In a speech on Constitution Day on June 28, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he submitted a bill on the Ukrainian National Pantheon to parliament. The document provides for honoring the "most prominent representatives of the Ukrainian nation."

Polish outlet Onet reported, citing government sources, that the Polish government was "surprised" by President Zelenskyy's decision and believes the bill could worsen relations between the countries.