A post is being widely shared in the Czech segment of Facebook claiming that the Czech government spent 2.5 billion korunas on rebuilding Ukrainian hospitals while refusing to allocate 468 million korunas to help its own citizens affected by floods. This claim is misleading: the vast majority of funds for modernizing Ukrainian hospitals come from the European budget, not from the Czech one. As for flood relief, the government did indeed decline to provide direct compensation of 468 million korunas to the Moravian-Silesian Region, but the region immediately received 640 million korunas in subsidies for damage recovery. This disinformation case was analyzed in detail by Czech fact-checkers from Demagog.

A post that is being actively shared on Facebook claims: “The government spent 2.5 billion korunas on rebuilding a hospital in Ukraine but refused to provide 468 million to help its own citizens affected by floods”. The author is clearly referring to the Czech program supporting the modernization of Ukrainian hospitals and to state assistance after the floods in September 2024. Such claims are often used to stir up anti-Ukrainian sentiment, but they ignore key facts.

Facts about the reconstruction of Ukrainian hospitals

In March 2025, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced assistance for the modernization of Ukrainian hospitals. The European Commission approved the application, under which Czechia received €88 million (approximately 2.2 billion korunas) from the EU budget. The breakdown of funds is as follows:

Czech investors can also receive loan guarantees. The Czech government contributed only 200 million korunas from the national budget. Thus, the total amount is around 2.5 billion korunas, but the majority consists of EU funds to support Ukraine, not spending from the Czech state budget. About one third of the funds are guarantees that the state would pay only if loans are not repaid. These are not “government expenditures”, as the post claims, but investments in international cooperation.

The author of the fake mentions the refusal to allocate 468 million korunas to the Moravian-Silesian Region as compensation for initial flood-related expenses. However, the post omits a key fact: immediately after the floods, the region received 640 million korunas from the state to cover damages. Of this amount, 1.2 million korunas were even returned to the budget. Thus, assistance reached municipalities and residents through the regional budget, while the state provided a significantly larger sum – 640 million korunas – directly. Overall, the Czech state budget supported flood victims more than Ukrainian hospitals (200 million korunas from national funds).

The claim that “2.5 billion from the Czech government” was spent on Ukrainian hospitals is manipulative. Such fakes are often spread to manipulate public opinion and turn residents of EU countries against Ukraine.

Claims are circulating widely on Polish social media alleging that a Ukrainian woman working at a ZUS branch (Poland’s Social Insurance Institution) in Szczecin is deliberately delaying procedures for Polish citizens, while management supposedly ignores complaints. Fact-checkers from Demagog have explained why this claim is fake.

Fake stories about Ukrainians in Poland take various forms, and one of the recurring themes in this context concerns pension payments in Poland. In connection with this topic, claims have also emerged that a Ukrainian citizen is allegedly making it harder for Poles to access benefits, and posts spreading this narrative have quickly circulated across social media platforms.

For example, a video was published on TikTok – at the time of writing it had more than 12,000 likes – claiming that a Ukrainian woman working at the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) in Szczecin is deliberately delaying the processing of pension applications for Polish citizens. Despite numerous complaints, as stated in the recording, she allegedly continues to hold her position.

Other materials on the same topic quickly appeared on platforms such as X and Facebook. The comments are dominated by anti-Ukrainian sentiment. As users wrote (original spelling preserved): “Fire her, they shouldn’t work in such positions at all”, “A saboteur against the Polish nation”, “What is this, why are Ukrainians hired in government offices?”

ZUS responds to the false information about pension payments in Szczecin

ZUS issued an official response to the allegations of alleged sabotage by an employee. As emphasized in the statement, the time required to process applications depends on various factors, such as the complexity of a case or the need to obtain additional documents. According to the institution, these factors may extend processing times and have nothing to do with any “Ukrainian” employee. When asked whether the Ukrainian woman mentioned in the video actually works at the Szczecin branch of ZUS, the official answer was clear: “The information is false. There is no such employee”.

Thus, such fakes are being spread with the aim of fueling anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland.