Russian propaganda is now considered to be a hook not only for supporters of the "Russian world", but also for those who are against it.Russia is trying to sow seeds of discord everywhere, including depriving Ukraine's allies of arms, financial and humanitarian support. For example, since the very beginning of the war, the Kremlin has been spreading the following fake: Poland might have an insidious intention to seize the western part of Ukraine and then begin the denazification of the population.
On November 4, on the Russian Day of People's Unity, the President of the Russian Federation, Volodymyr Putin, once again repeated the thesis about the intentions of some Western states to seize part of the Ukrainian territory.According to Putin, Poland, Hungary and Romania are planning to occupy lands that were parts of these states in the past.And Russia prevents them from doing this and Russia is, in fact, "the only guarantor of Ukrainian statehood and sovereignty."
Сьогодні ми обговоримо основні фейки російської пропаганди про польсько-українські відносини.
Today we will pay attention to the main fakes of Russian propaganda devoted to Polish-Ukrainian relations.
First fakes
Propagandists have been using a narrative about the differences between the residents of the western and eastern parts of Ukraine since the time of the USSR. However, this thesis was actively used for the first time in the parliamentary campaign of 2002, when Viktor Yushchenko's opposition Bloc "Nasha Ukraina" took first place in the elections.
During the 2004 presidential race, where Yushchenko and Yanukovych were opponets, Yanukovych's political technologists even created a map where Ukraine was divided into three "sorts".
During the Orange Revolution, the first attempt to put the split into practice took place. In November 2004, the Congress of Deputies in Sievierodonetsk announced the creation of the South-Eastern Ukrainian Autonomous Republic.
The word "autonomous" in the title indicated that the "republic" remained part of Ukraine, but voices began to be heard in favor of joining Russia.Pro-Russian propagandists immediately began to think about the annexation of Ukrainian regions in the west of the country by Poland.
In 2014, after the annexation of Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, spreading the fake about the division of Ukraine between neighboring countries intensified. Russian politician Volodymyr Zhirynovskyі even officially sent letters to the governments of Poland, Hungary and Romania with the proposal to divide Ukraine together with Russia.
In addition to Putin and Zhirinovskyi, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Dmitrii Medvedev, the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Mariia Zakharova, former People's Deputy from the "Opposition Platform — For Life" Ilya Kiva, former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov, "President of Belarus" Alexander Lukashenko also talked about Poland's intention to annex part of Ukraine.
Fakes during the full scale invasion
The first series of fakes were published in March 2022, when a Polish delegation visited Kyiv. According to Russian propagandists, the Poles were preparing the groundwork in Ukraine for the "accession" of western Ukrainian lands. No evidence was provided for such assumptions. This fake was aimed at discrediting Ukraine's relations with Western partners.
Also, information began to spread in Russia that apparently a large number of Polish mercenaries are fighting for Ukraine and they will eventually occupy its western part. At the time, the spokesman for Poland's special services coordinator, Stanislav Zharyn, said that Russian propaganda was based on the lie that Kyiv and Warsaw had allegedly agreed that "Poland would take western Ukraine for its debts" and that Polish mercenaries would eventually occupy Ukraine.
He noted that in addition to the Russians, their allies in Belarus are also increasing propaganda narratives against Warsaw based on false accusations that Poland is allegedly preparing an attack.
In May, Russia published a document with an alleged order from the commander of the Polish army, General Yaroslav Mick, to take control of strategic objects in two regions - Lviv and Volyn.
The main intelligence agency of Ukraine immediately stated that it was a falsification and forgery. The General Command of the Armed Forces of Poland also called this order a fake.
In the same month, the President of Poland Andrzej Duda visited Ukraine and spoke about the new friendship agreement between Poland and Ukraine, and Volodymyr Zelenskyi reported on the possibility of creating a single conditional border when Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union. In Russia they immediately concluded that "the beginning of the absorption of Ukraine".
In one of her broadcasts Russian propagandist Olha Skabeeva reported that Zelenskyi "is giving Duda control over the remaining territory of Ukraine, thinking that this will save him.
"Volodymyr Zelenskyi's statement that he will "return Ukraine to Poland" is one of the fakes spread by Russia this summer.Propagandist Russian publications convinced that the Polish newspaper Dziennik Wschodni had published an article with such a headline on the front page.In fact, it was the first page of the Polish publication falsified by Russian propagandists, which they published on Facebook and "VKontakte" social networks.
Another episode occurred in July, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyi submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on the special status of Polish citizens in Ukraine, developed in response to the law on assistance to citizens of Ukraine. The Russian media also saw this as direct "proof" of Poland's capture of Ukraine.
At that time, propagandists began to distribute fake photos of price tags from stores in the western part of Ukraine for some products, where the prices are indicated in hryvnias and Polish zlotys. However, fact-checkers found out that such photos are edited, and the prices do not correspond to reality.
In September, Russians began publishing fake photos of ballot papers for a "referendum" in Lviv oblast regarding its accession to Poland.
This fake was refuted by the Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security Council of Ukraine."All messages with such a premise are confirmed by pre-falsified "facts".
The message that Poland is preparing to annex the western part of Ukraine remains one of the main narratives of the Russian Federation's hybrid war against Ukraine, which aims to split relations between Poland and Ukraine," they noted.
In the same month, when Ukraine announced its intention to build a pipeline with Poland to transport Ukrainian sunflower oil to the Polish port of Gdansk, Russia again declared that Poland had begun an economic takeover of Ukraine.
In addition, according to the version of Russian propaganda, for everything that Poland handed over to us - from weapons to humanitarian aid, Ukraine will have to pay with land.
At the end of September, the Russian Federation spread a fake that Poland had begun a covert mobilization to seize Lviv in the future. Propagandists inferred the mobilization based on news of the deployment of the "Train with the Army" program, which was actually a pro-social initiative by the Ministry of National Defense in conjunction with the Polish Army, designed to develop survival skills in the event of an emergency.
Another fake of Russian propaganda about Poland, which appeared at the end of October, concerned the construction of an energy bridge from the Khmelnytskyi NPP to Rzeszów.According to propagandists, it means that Poland is planing to occupy part of Ukraine.The reports said that the energy bridge was being built as part of a project to reintegrate "historical" Polish lands. The Poles have allegedly long been working on taking control of the energy infrastructure of the western regions of Ukraine and the propagandists believe that this will enable Poland to significantly strengthen its influence in Ukraine.
In fact, the launch of the Rzeszów-Khmelnytskyi NPP line should increase the capacity of the Polish-Ukrainian connection from the current 210 MW to more than 1.2 GW, which is very necessary for Ukraine's electricity exports. The construction of this line is also important for Poland, because Ukrainian electricity is three times cheaper than Polish electricity.
The most recent fake appeared at the end of November. A number of Kremlin propaganda resources write that an increase in the incidence of HIV was allegedly discovered in Poland "after the influx of refugees from Ukraine."At the same time, the mass media further in the text of the news also explain that the increase in indicators does not mean that the number of HIV-infected people is increasing, but in the headlines of Russian propaganda it is clearly understood that such statistics are related only to Ukrainians.
Most Russian fakes of this kind are designed to discredit Ukrainians and turn citizens of other countries against them.For example, they say that refugees from Ukraine are ungrateful, spoil the lives of other residents, take away jobs.
А Russian fake about the fact that poor people in Poland are being denied free food because of Ukrainian refugees was widespread. However, the video accompanying such messages was recorded in Wrocław's World Central Kitchen, which provides targeted aid to people affected by the war in Ukraine. There, you can really see how two Poles are denied food, but they explain it by the fact that the funds for food are allocated in a targeted way.World Central Kitchen is a non-profit charitable foundation that helps with food to people affected by natural disasters or other crisis phenomena.This organization has also been supporting Ukrainians since the first day of the large-scale war.Its representatives explained that they are unable to provide food to every resident of Wrocław and expressed their regret that they were forced to refuse help to someone.
Russian propagandists also tried to prove the fabricated audacity of Ukrainian refugees through a fake that Ukrainians allegedly want to make Ukrainian the second official language in Poland. The article "Almost the third resident of Wroclaw is a Ukrainian" actually appeared on the website of the Wyborcza publication. And there are more and more of them". In particular, the article referred to a study by the Union of Polish Metropolises, which showed that Wroclaw is the second Polish city after Warsaw in terms of the number of Ukrainian residents.
It also was claimed that during registration, Ukrainians in Poland fill out a questionnaire in which they must state that Stepan Bandera is a terrorist.If the refugees from Ukraine do not do this, they will not receive the necessary documents, in particular, a special identification number of pesel. An example of such a questionnaire, which was distributed by propagandists, is fabricated. The fact checkers of the Myth Detector project found out this fact, and the authentic version of the document is available on the official website of the Polish government, and it does not contain questions about Bandera.
For some time, Russian social networks spread a fake letter allegedly from the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. This letter said that Poland would help identify Ukrainians of military age living in Poland and forcibly send them to Ukraine.
It is necessary to mention that since the beginning of the Russian full-scale military invasion Poland has become the main hub for the transfer of arms to Ukraine.The country also accepted more than 3.5 million refugees, of which at least 1.2 million still remain in Poland.
A fake about the alleged Ukrainian origin of the President of Poland Andrzej Duda deserves special attention.
Propagandists claimе that the president of Poland is the grandson of Mykhailo Duda, a Ukrainian nationalist and commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, who fought with the Poles and took part in Volyn massacre in 1943.It was also said that the Polish president was raised by his grandfather in the spirit of "Nazism", and therefore he supports "Ukrainian neo-Nazis".
Duda himself denied this fake a few years ago.The Ukrainian Duda could not be the grandfather of the Polish president, as he had no children and died in 1950, 22 years before the birth of Andrzej Duda.The native paternal grandfather of the Polish President, the Pole Alois Duda, lived in Stary Soncz and died in 1992.
Reaction to fakes in Poland
Poland has been a reliable ally since the first days of Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the president of the country, Andrzej Duda, has repeatedly stated that the best way to end the war is a victory for Ukraine with the restoration of territorial integrity.
Speaking in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Duda once again expressed his support for the Ukrainian people.
"You are Ukrainians. You are not refugees. You are our guests. Poland will do everything possible to help Ukraine become a member of the European Union.Today, I strongly believe, the time has come for a new Polish-Ukrainian treaty, a treaty on good neighborliness, which will take into account what we have achieved together in our relations only in recent months," Duda said.
During the debate on the law on providing assistance to citizens of Ukraine in the Polish Parliment, Deputy Minister Maciej Wonsik said that Poland was interested in a free Ukraine.
And the narrative about the alleged "exploitation of Ukrainian territory" is used to humiliate Ukrainians, try to tarnish their reputation, create the impression that the Poles are being ruled.
The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine (2016-2019) Jan Peklo noted that both Ukrainians and Poles understand that these fakes are just manipulation of the Russian government and "trolls".
"This is the information front, which we call "disinformation". No one in Poland who has critical thinking understands that this is not true. And also from the Ukrainian side, we think everyone understands that this is an information war", - he added.
The leaders of Poland have repeatedly declared their support for Ukraine's aspiration to become a part of the European and Euro-Atlantic communities, to preserve its territorial integrity and sovereignty. In March, the Polish government officially declared that narratives about Poland's hostile intentions towards Ukraine and its alleged desire to occupy the western regions of Ukraine are part of Russian aggressive propaganda and disinformation, and in October the Polish Parliаment recognized the Russian government as a terrorist regime.
Indeed, the Poles do not pay attention to Russian fakes and continue to help Ukraine.It is not only about the government, but also about ordinary citizens. So, Polish publicist Slawomir Sivakowski organized a fundraiser for Bayraktar for the Armed Forces.
The Polish Parliаment also adopted a law on assistance to citizens of Ukraine, which guarantees the safety of women, children, and the elderly.
According to the document, Ukrainians can stay in Poland legally for 18 months, they can count on the help of the governor and local self-government bodies. Every Ukrainian residing in Poland is legally guaranteed access to the state healthcare system on the same basis as Polish citizens.
The Polish state also takes appropriate actions related to guaranteeing the education and upbringing of children or students who are citizens of Ukraine and to whom the provisions of the law apply.
Why is Russia doing this?
Fakes about Poland are an attempt to disrupt relations between Ukraine and its allies, to discredit one of our closest partners. The relations between Ukraine and Poland have their own difficult moments, which relate to the events of the 1940s in Volyn, the forced eviction of Ukrainians, etc. Russia is well aware of all these problems and the country has been using them for many years. Also, the reason for information leaks is that the Kremlin does not like the significant support that Poland provides to us.Russia is trying to discredit this cooperation by all possible methods.
Also, these fakes became one of the methods of justifying Russian military aggression against the western part of Ukraine and the constant presence of Belarusian troops near the Ukrainian borders.
For example, the situation on November 15, when two people died in the border village of Przewodów in Poland during large-scale Russian missile attacks became a "gift" for Russian propaganda.The Russian Federation emphasized the apparently deliberate shelling of Polish territory by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
However, another attempt to quarrel friendly peoples turned out to be unsuccessful. The Polish authorities admitted that in any case Russia bears the responsibility for the tragedy as an aggressor state that attacked Ukraine.
Russian disinformation about Poland can be divided into two categories. The first is disinformation designed to discredit Poland and its politics, to create the appearance that it wants to seize part of the Ukrainian territory. The second category is disinformation designed to discredit Ukrainian refugees and turn Polish society against them.
Russian disinformation can be found both in the media and in social networks. In particular, a lot of fakes and manipulations about Russia's military offensive against Ukraine are spread by state Russian media, Kremlin propagandists, and Telegram channels.
We see that it is not Poland that wants to destroy the Ukrainian energy system or take it under its control, but Russia, which since the beginning of October has been systematically shelling energy facilities throughout Ukraine.
Also, Russian propagandists, such as Volodymyr Solovyov or Olha Skabeeva, have repeatedly stated that the goal of the Russian Federation is to "return Ukraine to the Middle Ages, to deprive the country of electricity and other benefits of civilization".
At the same time, the Russian Federation occupied the territories of Ukraine, in particular, held fake referendums.
Therefore, the Kremlin's narrative about Poland's annexation of the western part of Ukraine remains a burning propaganda myth. After all, the strengthening of Polish-Ukrainian relations, the support of Ukraine by Andrzej Duda in the world, the transfer of humanitarian and military aid greatly hinders the enemy.
Author: Anton Malynovskyi
