Disinformation explosion in Poland: How Russia is driving wedge between Warsaw and Kyiv
Photo: Ukrainian refugees in Poland (Getty Images)
Russian intelligence services have stepped up a large-scale disinformation campaign in Poland, exploiting historical disputes between Warsaw and Kyiv to drive a wedge between the allies, Reuters reports.
Russia has focused on sensitive historical issues dating back to World War II, as well as resentment over Ukrainian refugees.
Polish Deputy Digital Minister Pawel Olszewski said that after the public dispute emerged, Russian disinformation literally exploded across social media and official Russian media platforms. Some Polish media outlets later began repeating these narratives as well.
A 250% surge and a new bot strategy
According to an analysis by the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), the volume of anti-Ukrainian content in Polish on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube increased by more than 250%.
Experts have noted a shift in Russia’s tactics and warned of several key features of the campaign:
- Artificially boosted engagement: a significant portion of the content is generated by bot farms to create the illusion of widespread outrage among Poles;
- Exploitation of real triggers: rather than inventing fake stories, Russia largely distorts and inflates genuine controversial issues;
- Detection challenges: because these manipulations are based on real events, they are much harder to identify and block.
Olszewskist stressed that the flow of disinformation surrounding the dispute had "fallen on fertile ground."
At the same time, Moscow has traditionally denied carrying out any information attacks. The Russian Embassy in Warsaw said the accusations were baseless and claimed that Russia "does not interfere in the relations between other states."
Deteriorating relations between Ukraine and Poland
As previously reported, diplomatic tensions emerged between Ukraine and Poland in late May after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ special units the honorary title of the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) heroes.
The move drew criticism from Warsaw. Poland holds the Ukrainian Insurgent Army responsible for the Volhynia tragedy of 1943–1945, which it recognizes as genocide against the Polish population.
Amid the debate over historical memory and assessments of the UPA’s activities, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle. Former Ukrainian presidents later also declined the state honor.
