Russian propagandists used the flooding in Poland to create anti-Ukrainian sentiment and sow discord between Ukrainians and Poles. One of the main messages was that supporting Ukraine allegedly weakens Poland's ability to help its citizens. Propagandists spread information that Ukrainian refugees received more aid than the affected Poles, which caused negative emotions and fueled discontent. This is written by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Examples of manipulations:

Accusations against Ukrainians of looting in areas evacuated due to flooding.

Using fake videos and data from other countries to exaggerate the scale of the disaster.

Manipulation of the numbers of dead and missing in order to distort the real state of affairs.

According to the PAP press agency, from September 13 to 25, 23,000 disinformation messages were recorded online, reaching around eight million users. The campaign also aimed to incite hostility, weaken the strategic alliance between Poland and Ukraine, and undermine unity in confronting Russian aggression. This is part of a broader information war aimed at isolating Ukraine on the international stage and reducing support among key partners. In response, the Polish authorities emphasize the continuation of comprehensive assistance to Ukraine in the fight against the aggressor.

Russian propagandists are spreading information about the demolition of a monument to UPA soldiers in the Polish village of Werkrata (Subcarpathian Voivodeship) with corresponding photos. However, this is manipulation. This is written by the Center for Counteracting Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council. They found out that in fact this is old news from 2016.

Thus, propagandists try to create the impression that Poland does not support Ukraine, provoking tensions between the nations. Such information attacks are aimed at weakening Polish-Ukrainian relations and inciting national discord, which is part of the strategy of isolating Ukraine. However, Poland continues to support Ukraine in its fight for independence, despite these destructive messages.

Anonymous Telegram channels are discussing the reaction of the Ukrainian leadership to a previously published article by The Wall Street Journal, which states that the number of killed Ukrainian soldiers allegedly reaches 80 thousand, and the wounded - 400 thousand. At a meeting with journalists on September 20, 2024, Volodymyr Zelenskyi denied such information.

“80 thousand? That's a lie. The real figure is significantly lower than what was published. Significantly”, Zelenskyi said.

WSJ journalists also reported that it is difficult to determine the exact number of dead and wounded in the Russian-Ukrainian war, since Russia and Ukraine refuse to publish official estimates or publish ones that “many do not trust”. And they formed their figures based on unnamed sources familiar with the situation in Ukraine.

Russian propagandists used this information drive and spread reports that Polish journalists also decided to conduct their own assessment of the dead and came up with a figure of up to 500 thousand killed Ukrainian soldiers.

“The more Ukrainian soldiers, and especially those from the western regions of Ukraine, die, the easier it will be for Poland to take back what already belongs only to it,” the propagandists who allegedly commented on the “results” of the study on Polish radio reported.

But this is just a Russian fake. No major Polish media outlets have come out with such news - and even with the help of a reverse Google search - using the key phrase “500,000 wojskowych zabitych na Ukrainie” (500 thousand soldiers died in Ukraine) there are no similar publications.

As for the phrase on Polish radio, it was also made up, because there were no “results”  of the study. Moreover, the quote that the propagandists cite was only published in the segment of Russian and anonymous telegram channels. That is, official sources did not confirm this: and the quote itself is a set of Russian rhetoric about “Poland taking the western part of Ukraine”.

Information about the dead is sensitive information that the Kremlin's minions are trying to speculate on, playing on the mood of Ukrainians. Due to the extremely inflated figures from the propagandists, it may seem that the war has no end and soon no one will be fighting. In general, such figures cannot be genuine; even the Ukrainian authorities can adjust some constant figures, for example, only deny the WSJ material, since it is currently impossible to establish the real number of dead during the active phase of the war.

Let us recall that in February of this year, the Ukrainian president reported the number of 31 thousand fallen Ukrainian soldiers over two years of the great war.

Propagandists claim that Warsaw allegedly has territorial claims on Western Ukraine. They say, if the Polish army enters Volyn, the Lukashenko regime will support the local population, since Belarusians will be next. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes about it.

They indicate that this message has been used by propagandists since the very beginning of the full-scale invasion. Poland has been a reliable ally of Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and there is no evidence to support its territorial claims. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Belarus has become a base for Russian attacks on Ukraine. In addition, the so-called allied relations between Moscow and Minsk are considered a “diplomatic occupation of Belarus”, since Putin actually controls both the power bloc and military structures in Belarus, which indicates the loss of its sovereignty.

This misinformation is being spread to create distrust and tension between Ukraine and Poland, two key allies in the fight against Russian aggression. Russia and Belarus use this message to weaken the support of Ukraine from Poland and other Western countries, which provide significant military, humanitarian and economic assistance. This fake is also trying to blow up internal unity in Ukraine. In addition, its dissemination aims to distract attention from the real role of Belarus in the war as an ally of Russia and a participant in the aggression against Ukraine. In a broader context, such fakes help to create an image of an external enemy for Belarusian society, amplifying the rhetoric of fear and mobilization around threats to sovereignty in order to justify Lukashenko's political actions and strengthen Belarus' dependence on Russia.

Russian Telegram channels and pro-Russian users of the social network X are distributing a video allegedly published by the BBC. The material says that Polish schoolchildren allegedly do not want to study together with Ukrainian children because of the latter’s “low academic performance and bad behavior”. In turn, Polish parents are even allegedly ready to bribe the directors of local schools just to protect their children from studying in mixed classes. However, this is fake.

The video clip being distributed online has nothing to do with the BBC, Ukrinform journalists report. There is no corresponding clip on the British Broadcasting Corporation's website or on its official social media pages.

Additionally, all BBC videos on YouTube Shorts recently contain information about when they were released. However, the fake video does not have a publication date.

Russian propaganda faked the video using photos and videos found on the Internet. Some of them do not even concern Ukraine. For example, the frame with which the video begins appeared online back in 2021 - it can be found on foreign websites.

It should also be noted that earlier the Russians distributed a fake video on behalf of the BBC, which concerned the “mass use of Nazi symbols” by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region. The audio track in that video matches the audio track present in the video about the negative attitude towards Ukrainian schoolchildren in Poland.

With this fake, propagandists are trying to sow discord between Ukrainians and Poles, as well as weaken relations between Ukraine and Poland. Earlier, we refuted the information that the Volyn tragedy will not be studied in Polish schools where Ukrainian children study.

A number of pro-Russian sources have spread the “news” that those evacuated as a result of the flood in Poland have nowhere to stay, because “all the places are occupied by Ukrainians”. As evidence, the propagandists cited a publication by an allegedly injured Polish woman named Dagmara Malynowska, who wanted to evacuate to a hotel with her child, but they were allegedly refused.

Therefore, the woman and her daughter were apparently forced to spend the night in a camp on the site of a school, where the child contracted pneumonia. Finally, as the Russians claim, Dagmara called on the authorities to check why Ukrainian refugees are provided better conditions than Polish citizens.

However, Russian propagandists have faked the publication. StopFake journalists found the original message by Dagmara Malinovskaya with such a photo. In the post, the woman did not write anything about Ukrainians who allegedly occupied all the places in the hotels. In fact, Dagmara published information that Primary School No. 3 was accepting evacuees and also needed humanitarian aid: water, warm food and blankets.

The Polish woman later personally refuted the Russian propaganda, stating that she had not written it. She also added that she had not been evacuated and that she did not have a daughter.

With this fake, the Russians want to spoil the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainian refugees and to quarrel with residents of neighboring countries. Earlier, we recorded a Russian message about “possible reduction of jobs for Polish teachers in favor of educators from Ukraine”.

Propagandists are spreading information in the Polish segment of social networks about possible job cuts for Polish teachers in favor of educators from Ukraine. Specialists from Demagog decided to contact the Polish Ministry of Education to verify these statements.

In its response, it stated that the admission of Ukrainian children to schools “does not result in Polish teachers losing their jobs”. Current regulations do not envisage Ukrainian teachers teaching children in Polish schools. According to the Ministry of Education, 3 million people have come to Poland since the start of the war in Ukraine, 43% of whom are children and young people. It is not known exactly how many of them have stayed permanently. The ministry notes that these children may in the future help rebuild Ukraine or become part of Polish society if they decide to stay. The ministry emphasizes that all students, including Ukrainians, must study according to the Polish curriculum, which means that teachers must know Polish at a sufficient level to teach lessons.

Spreading false information that Ukrainian teachers may displace Polish teachers from their jobs is aimed at inciting social conflicts and tensions between the two nations. This may cause fear and discontent among Poles, especially in the professional sphere. Such fakes are also aimed at reducing public support for Ukrainian refugees and aid to Ukraine in general. Creating the impression that Ukrainians are “taking” jobs or influencing the budget may push people to believe that supporting Ukraine is harmful to Polish society. Propagandists may use these fakes to create an impression of incompetence or betrayal on the part of the government, which allegedly puts the interests of Ukrainians above those of Poles. This may undermine trust in state institutions and the current authorities.

Russian resources are spreading information that the Volyn tragedy will not be taught in Polish schools in classes where Polish children study together with Ukrainian schoolchildren. The reason for the decision was the reluctance to create tension and interethnic conflicts among students. The corresponding “news” is being spread by propagandists, citing the English-language media about Ukraine United24.

However, this is a fake, StopFake journalists claim. There is no such story on the website, as well as on the Facebook and Instagram accounts of the United24 resource. The “news” was also not published in Polish media or on the website of the Ministry of National Education of Poland. That is, no one actually made such a decision.

The Volyn tragedy (in Polish historiography - the Volyn massacre) occurred in the summer of 1943 and is still a subject of debate among historians. At the same time, after the full-scale invasion, Ukraine and Poland leaned towards a policy of reconciliation and memory. “We are pursuing a calm policy. Not a policy of running around with pitchforks, but a policy of calmly seeking agreement on historically complex issues, decades-old, very complex, extremely painful for a significant group of our compatriots”, said Polish President Andrzej Duda in June 2023. In July of the same year, on the 80th anniversary of the tragedy, he arrived in Lutsk together with Volodymyr Zelenskyi to honor the memory of the victims of the tragedy.

Russia regularly speculates on the Volyn tragedy. For example, a little earlier we recorded a Russian fake about Babel publishing a quote from a Ukrainian director with the idea for the film “Volyn Chainsaw Massacre”.

Propagandists are distributing on social networks a fake quote from director Iryna Tsilyk, which was published by the Babel publication. It says: “An American director negotiated with us. He wanted to make the film “Volyn Chainsaw Massacre”. We refused, but now I think it was in vain. The vile Poles will poke our noses at the massacre like kittens as long as it benefits them, and will block our entry into the EU to the last”. However, the editor-in-chief of the publication confirmed on social networks that such a quote had never appeared in the publication.

Poland is an important ally of Ukraine, especially in the context of Russian aggression and Ukraine's integration into the EU. Intensifying conflicts based on historical events, such as the Volyn tragedy, are intended to worsen diplomatic relations and cooperation between countries. This could influence public opinion by creating a negative image of neighboring Poland and its policies

The spread of fake quotes and misinformation about Ukrainian cultural figures may reduce the level of support for Ukraine from Poland and other European countries. Russia wants to complicate the process of Ukraine's accession to the EU and other international organizations in this way. Such fakes help to divert attention from the real problems associated with Russian aggression and shift the focus to other problems.

There were reports on social networks about a knife attack in Krakow, as well as speculation that the attacker was allegedly Ukrainian. This information was quickly picked up by propagandists, but it is not true.

Polish fact-checkers from Demagog drew attention to it. They found out that on June 27, a recording was published on Facebook showing two men in a fight, one of whom was holding a knife.

The incident occurred when a cyclist hit a dog. After an argument with the animal's owner, the cyclist stabbed him several times and fled. The police quickly identified the criminal who had barricaded himself in his house. Thanks to the actions of negotiators and counter-terrorists, the attacker was detained while trying to escape through a window. The perpetrator turned out to be a 24-year-old resident of Krakow, previously known to the police.

To find out the nationality of the criminal, fact-checkers contacted the Voivodeship Police Commandant's Office in Krakow. Speaker-sub-inspector Katarzyna Czyslo denied the information that the attacker was Ukrainian:

“From the materials we have, it is clear that the perpetrator is of Polish nationality”.

They remind that in the case of sensational reports of attacks, special attention should be paid to the reliability of such information. Propagandists seize on such information to discredit Ukrainian refugees and create skepticism towards them.

Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels spread information that Polish doctors are allegedly being sent to Ukraine to front-line hospitals and to participate in hostilities. According to Russian propagandists, this will happen in the near future and, moreover, forcibly. As proof, the Russians provide screenshots of one of the Polish sites with the corresponding article.

However, this information does not correspond to reality, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security Council. The article actually says that 15 Polish doctors will come to Ukraine precisely for educational purposes. The material does not mention their participation in hostilities at all.

By spreading such messages, Russian propaganda promotes the narrative of “foreign mercenaries” allegedly fighting against the Russians in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Earlier, we refuted information that a Ukrainian called on Poles to go fight against Russia.

Polish-speaking Facebook users posted a picture about Ukraine. It says: “How can a country engulfed in “war”: export goods, participate in Eurovision, participate in sports competitions, trade with the whole world, have fun in Kyiv and other places where cowards hide? Something doesn’t add up here, and at the same time it requires help from all over the world. It’s a lie, do you agree?” Polish fact-checkers from the Demagog project drew attention to this case.

In response to the question “How can a country engulfed in “war”: export goods, [...] trade with the whole world?”, they cite research by Dr. Maria Greenberg of MIT. She argues that the relationship between trade and armed conflict is complex and ambiguous. War destroys trade ties between countries, but does not eliminate them completely. Ukraine exports metals, machinery, chemicals, but mainly agricultural products. The war led to a decrease in exports of these goods and an increase in their prices. Exports of goods and services to Ukraine fell significantly in 2022, according to the World Bank. However, in 2023, Ukraine achieved some stabilization, although exports decreased by about 20% due to lower prices on world markets, not due to lower sales volumes.

Regarding participation in sports and music competitions, there are many examples of countries that sent their teams to various tournaments during armed conflicts. For example, the Syrian team took part in the 2012 Olympics in London, where the civil war continued. In 2016, teams from Iraq and Libya competed at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In 2020 (which actually took place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the Tokyo Olympics featured teams from Myanmar and Somalia.

Ukraine is also not the first country to participate in Eurovision during the war. For example, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina - in the first half of the 90s during the wars in Yugoslavia. In 2022, the winner of the competition was the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra, but due to the war it was held in Liverpool (UK) in 2023.

Photos of Ukrainians walking the streets of Kyiv are not proof of the absence of war. For example, during World War II, people also continued to go about their business, as archival photographs show.

The war in Ukraine remains a real threat for many people. During the two years of war, more than 10,000 civilian deaths were confirmed as a result of Russian attacks, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The heaviest fighting is taking place in the east of the country, but attacks are also taking place in other regions.

Propagandists use this message to create skepticism among Poles about aid and support for Ukraine and its citizens.

Russian media are disseminating information that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has confirmed the introduction of NATO into Ukraine. The official allegedly announced this during a conversation with the press in the Sejm (Polish parliament).

StopFake analysts write that during a conversation with the press, Mr. Tusk was asked whether NATO could help Ukraine resist Russian aggression by sending troops into the country? In response, the Prime Minister explained that the Alliance already provides Ukraine with comprehensive military assistance, but does not want to intervene directly in the war and therefore does not send its troops to Ukraine.

At the same time, the Polish prime minister also noted that there is a small technical contingent in Ukraine - these are observers and engineering specialists who remain far from the front line and do not participate in battles. Most often, such specialists oversee the distribution of military aid to allies, guard the embassies of member states, or represent the apparatus of military attaches.

Propagandists are distributing a video on social networks with the symbols of the European news channel Euronews, which states that a refugee from Ukraine allegedly created a beauty salon in Poland with mosquitoes, the bite of which was supposed to relieve clients of cellulite. The video reports that after one of the patients was admitted to a Gdansk hospital with allergies, Polish police allegedly detained Kateryna Ivanchenko, the woman who, according to propagandists, organized this business, for fraud. “The Ukrainian woman earned 1 million zlotys from ordinary mosquitoes, which were believed to suck out fat”, the publications note. In fact, this information is not true.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They found that the video distributed online imitates the design of Euronews videos - in particular, the company logo can be seen in the upper right corner of the video. However, there is no such story either on the official website or on the media company’s social networks. The fact that this story is completely fictitious is indicated by the fact that none of the Polish media also reported such cases of fraud on the part of the Ukrainian woman.

To create a fake video, attackers used video clips from free stock videos. To illustrate the fictitious arrest of the owner of a beauty salon, a video clip of the arrest of a suspect in the arson of a shopping center in Gdansk was taken. This incident occurred in July 2020 and has nothing to do with the incident described in the fake video.

The purpose of this fake is to discredit refugees from Ukraine in the eyes of the Poles. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other Russian fakes regarding Ukrainian refugees.

On social networks and Russian public pages, propagandists are actively spreading messages that “a group of Ukrainian refugees, dissatisfied with the policies of the Polish authorities regarding the supply of Ukrainian goods and insufficient military assistance, staged an act of revenge and set fire to the pharmaceutical composition of Farmacol in Katowice on the evening of April 8”. Propagandists are also distributing two short videos from the scene, one of which shows a burning building with the inscription Farmacol. Social networks traditionally use hate speech and accusations against Ukrainian refugees. However, this is another fake of Russian propaganda.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that on the evening of April 8, 2024, in the Polish city of Katowice, a warehouse belonging to the pharmaceutical company Farmacol actually burned, but Ukrainian refugees had nothing to do with this incident. No Polish media or any other reliable source has information about the arson of the train specifically by Ukrainians.

Moreover, the Polish site Fakehunter also denied this fake and quoted the deputy head of the prosecutor's office of the Southern District of Katowice, Slawomir Barnas: “Previous conclusions made at the visual review stage exclude the possibility of arson in this place, not to mention the fact that the culprits were foreigners”. The prosecutor's office does not yet want to comment on the true cause of the fire, since it does not yet have an expert opinion, but it calls the version that Ukrainian citizens were involved in the incident unfounded.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to demonize Ukrainian refugees in Poland and cause a negative attitude towards them. Thus, they also want Poland to stop helping Ukraine and its people. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other Russian lies about Ukrainian refugees.

Russian propagandists are spreading false information that Ukraine is not in fact a sovereign state, since its international passport has “Ukraine” printed on it instead of “Republic of Ukraine”, unlike the passports of European Union countries. However, this is not true.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to this fake. They found out that Ukraine is the full name of the state, and therefore “Ukraine” is marked on the cover of the Ukrainian passport. This practice is standard in many countries around the world, including members of the European Union. For example, a Czech passport says “Czech Republic”, and a Polish passport says “Republic of Poland”.

However, not all EU member states use the word “republic” in the name of their countries, as propagandists claim. This is because not all of them are republics. For example, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Spain and Sweden are kingdoms and therefore do not have the word “republic” on their passports. Also on the passports of other European republics, such as Hungary, Romania and Ireland, one can only see the name of the country without this word.

On passports of different countries one can see different approaches to indicating the full name of the state. Therefore, the claim that Ukraine is not a state due to the absence of the word “republic” on its passport is baseless.

Propagandists spread such fakes to justify Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine by the fact that Ukraine does not seem to be a real state.

In an interview for the Polish news channel Polsat News, former Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army Raimund Andrzejczak, according to propagandists, expressed the opinion that Ukraine’s losses should be estimated in millions, not hundreds of thousands. However, this information is manipulated.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found that in his speech Andrzejczak mentioned the losses associated with the large flow of refugees and limited resources for mobilization. He spoke of a certain threat, pointing to the shortage of people in Ukraine and the problem with mobilization capacity, claiming “10 million refugees”.

However, Andrzejczak's estimates of losses are not precise. According to the Mykhailo Ptukha Institute of Demography and Social Research, more than 9 million Ukrainians are abroad, only some of them are refugees, and the others are labor migrants or those who left the country earlier. According to various estimates, the number of Ukrainian refugees ranges from 4.9 to 6.5 million.

The Center for Economic Strategy study also cites different figures, pointing to fewer Ukrainians abroad due to the war. Estimates of the actual losses of the Ukrainian military also vary, but do not reach millions. Approximate numbers of dead and prisoners are contained in the materials of the “Book of Memory of those who fell for Ukraine”, which has been keeping records of losses as a result of the war since 2014.

Propagandists often take phrases of famous politicians and military personnel out of context in order to dramatize the situation and cause despondency among Ukrainians.

A video is being circulated online showing Poles transporting black soil from the Kherson region in trucks. It consists of three parts: the first part shows the earthworks; the second is how a forklift fills a truck with soil; the third is filming the road by a car driver. The video contains the caption: “How was my week. Kherson region”. According to the authors of numerous publications with him, the land is being taken to the Polish city of Myslowice. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that this video first began to be distributed online by predominantly pro-Russian telegram channels and anonymous accounts back in early March 2023. They note that there is no indication in the video that the footage of the earth being loaded was actually filmed in Ukraine. A reverse image search also did not yield positive results due to the low quality of the recording. Only the last part of the video indicates that its author is probably Polish - Polish music and the Polish language can be heard in the background.

And yet, in the first part of the video, a truck is clearly visible, into which earth is being loaded, and in the second, the logo on the steering wheel of the car from which the road is being filmed is clearly visible. AFP Polska journalists, who also drew attention to this fake back in 2023, were able to identify these two vehicles: in the first part of the video a Shacman truck appears (Shacman F2000 or Shacman F3000), in the second - a Scania. This fact indicates that these two video fragments are not related to each other and were presumably combined into one video for the purpose of falsification.

The export of Ukrainian black soil is also unlikely because it is contrary to Polish and EU legislation. In accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 of 28 November 2019, the import of soil and fertilizers is prohibited. Consequently, trucks with land simply could not cross the border between Ukraine and Poland. In addition, the refutation from StopFake contains a professional commentary on the deterioration of the quality of Ukrainian black soil, which is why its transportation to other countries also seems unlikely.

Propagandists spread such fakes in order to deepen tension in bilateral relations between Poland and Ukraine against the backdrop of recent events, in particular, protests by Polish farmers against the import of Ukrainian products. Detector Media also wrote how Russia is trying to use and support these protests not only in Poland, but also in other EU countries.

As the US Congress considers military aid to Ukraine, European leaders are expressing concern about how the withdrawal of US financial support in the fight against Russian aggression could affect Ukraine. An Instagram post on February 25 claimed that Poland's foreign minister called the US a “dysfunctional and unreliable” state due to delays in the process. In particular, propagandists disseminated such messages on social networks like Instagram. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the Politifact project drew attention to it. They found that while Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorsky did express concern about a possible end to U.S. military aid to Ukraine in an interview with Bloomberg News on February 22, he called for a democratic process in resolving the issue and urged the Speaker of the House of Representatives to put forward a bill on the aid package to Ukraine to vote.

In his interview, Sikorsky highlighted the potential consequences if the United States does not provide expected assistance to its allies, warning of negative developments for American alliances around the world.

There is no evidence to support that Poland's foreign minister called the US “dysfunctional and unreliable” in his interview with Bloomberg News or elsewhere. Therefore, we evaluate this statement as erroneous.

Russian propagandists take such statements out of context in order to antagonize Western states and cause skepticism about helping Ukraine. Detector Media has already written about how Russian propaganda is trying to influence the policies of the United States and for what purposes.

Russian propagandists are disseminating information in anonymous telegram channels that a mass death of birds was allegedly recorded in Poland after they allegedly ate Ukrainian grain that spilled from freight cars. “The Poles are afraid that they are next, because they are bringing poisoned grain from Ukraine”, they write in their public posts. Some propagandists also say that we are talking about grain that was allegedly grown in the radiative zone around Chornobyl, and that it is now being sold to Europe.

However, there is no factual evidence that somewhere in Poland a mass death of birds was recorded specifically through Ukrainian grain. Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They found that the first video being circulated by propagandists as evidence of these claims showed several dead birds, mostly crows, lying next to railway tracks in the Polish city of Zamość. No research has been conducted into the causes of death of these birds. There is no information about what happened even in the local media. There was only a message about this on social networks, where this video was published. Polish fact-checkers from the Demagog project also drew attention to the spread of fake news among Poles and took a comment from an ornithologist who confirmed that without toxicological and veterinary studies it is impossible to say that the birds died due to poisoned grain.

Local bloggers also commented on the situation, noting that there are no freight trains running in the place where the video was filmed. In addition, the birds in the video lie in amazing poses, some with broken wings. It is also surprising that in the video there are only crows, and not pigeons, sparrows or other “urban” birds.

Regarding the quality of Ukrainian grain exported to Europe, it is very carefully checked by buyers. They not only control the quality indicators of the grain, but also make sure that the products have the necessary international certification.

“Each batch is accompanied by an analysis by an independent surveyor nominated by GAFTA”, said Serhii Orlovskyi, founder of the Agrooiltrade trading company, in an interview with Latifundist.com. According to him, any discrepancy in quality could become the basis for lawsuits.

This fake is spreading against the backdrop of protests by Polish farmers against European agricultural policy and the blockade of checkpoints from Ukraine, as well as blockades of roads and highways in some provinces demanding a ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine. The protests are accompanied by disinformation campaigns and inciting hostility between allies, which obviously benefits the Kremlin. Detector Media has already written about how Russia is fueling and exploiting farmer protests across Europe.

Russian telegram channels, with reference to Polish border guards, disseminate information that during February 5, 2024, 16,400 people left Ukraine for Poland. The reason for this is the alleged flight of Ukrainians from Zelenskyi.

In fact, Russian propagandists manipulate information. This is written about in the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. So, on February 5, 2024, 16,400 people actually left Ukraine for Poland, but on the same day 17,600 people returned from Poland to Ukraine. In addition, this does not mean that none of those who left will return back. These days, when the skies over Ukraine are closed to civil aircraft, one of the few options to get to any other country is to go through Poland. Ukrainians can visit their relatives abroad, travel or go on their own business, and then return back.

In this case, the Russians resort to one of the propaganda tactics called “selective truth”. Its essence is that a statement may be partially true, may be completely true but not include the whole truth, or may contain several deceptive elements. That is, in the message about the “flight of Ukrainians from Zelenskyi”, the Russians deliberately kept silent about the 17,600 people who returned from Poland to Ukraine on February 5, 2024, thereby providing one-sided information.

• Read also: Ukrainian refugees are caught on the Polish-German border to send them to the front.

Russian telegram channels disseminated information about the study of Polish as a second foreign language in schools in the Poltava region. Propagandists explain this by saying that the Ukrainian authorities are allegedly preparing citizens to surrender their territories to Poland. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that in one of the classes at Lyceum No. 17 “Intelligence” in Poltava, they actually study Polish as a second foreign language (the first is English). But the decision to learn Polish was made not by the authorities, but by the parents of the students. This decision was made at the level of the parent committee and taken at the regional level for study in two schools in the Poltava region, as confirmed by information from the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

The Ministry of Education and Science has developed a program for studying the Polish language for students in grades 5-9 and 10-11, but it is not mandatory for teaching. The director of Lyceum No. 17, Olena Holtvianytsia, emphasizes that the Ministry does not limit the school in the choice of foreign languages to study. The introduction of the Polish language in the lyceum is justified by the fact that many children have experience in Poland, so it becomes a more convenient option for them than other foreign languages. It also gives children more opportunities to practice.

This innovation is due to the joint initiative of parents and schools, and it is completely unrelated to any plans for the return of territories to Poland. In addition, it should be noted that the Polish authorities have already expressed respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine several times. Detector Media has already written about why propagandists are trying to create fake news that Poland will supposedly soon seize Ukraine.

Krzysztof Sokołowski recorded a video message to the Poles and called on them to go to war in Ukraine and kill Russians. At the end of his speech, he exclaimed: “Hit Moscow, hit it to the last bullet, go ahead to Moscow, for Ukraine our homeland! Death to enemies! Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!”. This video was picked up by a Polish pro-Russian politician and distributed on his pages on social networks with the caption: “In one minute, the Ukrainian is warming us up to war with Russia”.

Krzysztof Sokołowski is a Pole, he was born in Warsaw and graduated from the University of Warsaw. Ukrinform journalists write about this. The man began learning Ukrainian in 2022, as evidenced by a message on his Facebook page. Previously, Sokołowski was a lawyer, but lost his license due to numerous frauds. Now he has become a tool in the hands of pro-Russian Polish politicians.

With this fake, Russian propaganda seeks to worsen relations between Ukraine and Poland and to quarrel between the two countries. They say that the Ukrainians are also trying to involve their Polish neighbors in the war. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, has repeatedly noted that Ukraine does not need NATO military, but only weapons and money. Previously, Detector Media denied information that Poland would now issue draft notices to Ukrainians.

Russian propaganda resources are disseminating information that there are checkpoints on the Polish-German border where Ukrainian refugees are allegedly detained in order to deport them. It's fake.

This misinformation was processed by the fact-checkers from the StopFake project. They found out that the mentioned checkpoints do exist, but they are not related to Ukraine. The checkpoints are set up for security reasons and are related to the influx of illegal migrants and the activities of smugglers who smuggle people across the border illegally. According to the head of the press and information department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Illarion Pavliuk, the Ministry is not developing any measures to put pressure on Ukrainians liable for military service who have traveled abroad.

After the promulgation of the Bill of December 25, 2023 to improve certain issues of mobilization, military registration and military service, Russian propaganda speculates noticeably more on the topic of mobilization. The bill in the first reading contains, in particular, an invitation to Ukrainians abroad to clarify their credentials. However, this is not a hunt for people, and no forced mobilization outside of Ukraine is planned.

Pro-Russian resources write that Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support employees began handing out draft notices to Ukrainian men in Warsaw. As proof, propagandists are distributing a video in which a man in military uniform allegedly issues a draft notice to a Ukrainian in the Polish capital.

In fact, the video is staged - it was shot by a Ukrainian military man who is undergoing rehabilitation in Warsaw after being seriously wounded in the war. The purpose of this production, according to the military man, is “to fray the nerves of evaders” who left Ukraine illegally. He spoke about this in a new video distributed by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Russian propaganda systematically speculates on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine, in particular, spreading disinformation. Propagandists fuel their narrative with this fake, saying that the Ukrainian authorities are pursuing a policy of “grabbing” ordinary Ukrainians. Moreover, from now on they will supposedly “catch” Ukrainians abroad. Previously, we worked on the Russian message, according to which paying assistance to Ukrainian male refugees seems to be much more expensive than transferring them to the service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.