A network of telegram channels run by Russian intelligence is spreading the message that Poland is receiving huge sums of money for the repair of Ukrainian military equipment, and therefore is interested in continuing the war.

This is another Russian propaganda message about Poland, which seems to be the most interested party in the war. From the very beginning of the war, propaganda has been writing about Poland, which seems to be planning to divide Ukraine and annex or occupy the western part of Ukraine. Also, propaganda constantly promotes the message that Poland received a lot of cheap labor at the expense of Ukrainian refugees. Now propaganda is spreading the thesis that Poland seems to receive at least 10 billion dollars for the repair of Ukrainian military equipment. These figures are not supported by anything, but on January 29, The Wall Street Journal published an article about the repair of Ukrainian military equipment in Poland, which talked about a secret repair factory that restores artillery and armored vehicles. Poland will continue to repair damaged equipment, including American and European tanks, in the future, journalists write.

Poland is one of the most important partners of Ukraine, and Russian propaganda is constantly trying to present Poland as the aggressor or beneficiary of the war, once again trying to shift the responsibility for the invasion, in particular, to the United States and NATO countries.

Russian propaganda spreads the message to the Western audience that allegedly Poland can receive part of the Ukrainian territories as “compensation” for paying the “Ukrainian debt” to the United States.

This message has no legal basis and is an invention of Russian propaganda. Thus, they are trying to promote the narrative about Poland's plans to seize part of the Ukrainian territories. EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to the spread of the message.

Earlier, as part of this narrative, propagandists spread messages that Poland considers the West of Ukraine to be its “colony”, that Poland needs the territory of Ukraine without Ukrainians. The propagandists also spread fakes about the referendum on the accession of the West of Ukraine to Poland and photos of voting ballots for the secession of the Lviv region from Ukraine and joining Poland.

This is the message propagandists share on social networks and telegram channels that broadcast pro-Russian rhetoric to the Polish audience. The report says that Poland understood who is real in the war in Ukraine and is ready to help enslaved Russia: it sent almost 100,000.00 Polish zlotys, which is 1.5 million rubles, to help the Russian army. The author of the message adds a video to the publication, which allegedly shows collecting  money. However, this is manipulation.

In fact, there were no official statements from Poland about helping the aggressor country. We cannot say that the person really did not transfer funds, but this is definitely not the official position of the country. Both the Polish leadership and the citizens of Poland strongly condemned the large-scale war provoked by Russia against Ukraine. Poland is and remains a faithful partner of Ukraine.

Regarding the video, it is published on a propaganda resource and demonstrates the process of withdrawing cash from an ATM. The video is not accompanied either by the hero's comments, or by the hero himself, because the video work consists of video parts mounted together, showing how people withdraw cash.

By spreading this manipulation, propagandists are trying to distort reality and show that Ukraine is gradually losing its support even from the most loyal partners. They say that Ukraine will soon remain on its own, because at last the whole world has learned who the real aggressor is. However, our partners do not stop condemning and sanctioning a terrorist country that daily commits war crimes against Ukrainians. Also, partners continue to support Ukraine, supplying weapons to fight the enemy.

Pro-Russian telegram channels distributed information about allegedly secret training of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service, police and fire protection of the Lublin voivodeship of Poland. They reported that Kyiv is preparing for a humanitarian catastrophe and is conducting exercises aimed at “preventing a massive uncontrolled flow of migrants”. Allegedly, Poland is afraid of the flow of refugees from a neighboring country.

In fact, according to VoxCheck, the study was reported publicly. On December 16, they were reported on their official pages by the State Emergency Service of the Volyn region, the State Migration Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The local media also wrote about them. There was no secret in the conduct of the training.

The purpose of the event was to work out the main actions in case of crowding at the border. Also, interaction with Polish colleagues was worked out to help citizens temporarily located at checkpoints across the state border.

Since the beginning of the war, the Russian media have been constantly writing about Ukrainian and Polish relations. In particular, that allegedly in the near future Poland will begin the occupation of the west of Ukraine, or that the number of HIV-infected people in the country has increased due to Ukrainian refugees. Thus, Russia is trying to sow discord between Ukraine and Poland.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write about this after the message of Polish President Andrzej Duda about the transfer of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Propagandists write that this will not affect the front in any way. They say that these tanks will not provide Ukraine with a decisive advantage. It seems to be just a demonstration of support for Ukraine.

In fact, in this way, Russian propaganda is trying to be proactive and use the tactics of depreciation after any reports of providing new weapons to Ukraine. The same messages are now being extended to the Patriot air defense system, which the United States plans to transfer. Like, one installation will not cope with so many Russian missiles, so there will be no significant changes.

A new stamp, which was released in Poland, is being distributed on social networks. It depicts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with a mustache similar to that of Adolf Hitler. Social media users ask in the comments if one can send letters with such stamps to Israel. However, this is fake.

In Poland they really issued a stamp with the image of Volodymyr Zelenskyi. However, this is not an official stamp issued by the Polish Post. According to VoxCheck, the issue of such a stamp is an initiative of the deputy of the Krakow City Council Lukasz Wantuch, and not the Polish Post. The funds received from the sale of the stamp are planned to be transferred to humanitarian aid to Ukraine. But a modified image of this stamp is distributed on the web.

Russian propaganda has repeatedly spread fakes associating Volodymyr Zelenskyi with Adolf Hitler. And in such a way the disinformation narrative “Ukrainians are Nazis” is being promoted.

A video is circulating online in which an elderly woman allegedly complains to the Polish authorities that she was “robbed” by Ukrainian refugees, whom she settled in her apartment. In different versions of the story, either the woman’s children or the city authorities persuaded the 73-year-old Polish woman to give shelter to a Ukrainian family. It seems that the Ukrainians robbed a woman, smashed the apartment, ran into debt for housing and disappeared. The victim allegedly vainly demands compensation from the authorities. It is not true.

The video has nothing to do with Ukraine. StopFake fact-checkers found out that this video first appeared online on April 24, 2018. An elderly woman in the video complains that she was not provided with the promised services - the replacement of all equipment with the Internet and television. The video was probably filmed at the customer service office of the company "Vectra", which provides telecommunications services in Poland.

A seemingly new cover of the Spanish satirical magazine El Jueves is being distributed online. The cartoon depicts a frightened Polish president with the caption: “I don't want war with Russia!”. However, this is not true.

Voxcheck experts said that there is no cover with a cartoon distributed on the web on the official pages of the magazine. On the barcode of the cover of the magazine there are numbers - 02375 (issue number) and a barcode. However, the cover with this number looks different.

Propagandists have repeatedly falsified the covers of various magazines to convince the public that the whole world is actually mocking Ukrainian and Western officials. In this way, they spread theses that are beneficial to pro-Kremlin propaganda: if not only propagandists, but also “the whole world” talk about it, then it seems that the messages are true.

However, some Russian propagandists present this column as the official position of Poland, and some as a serious journalistic investigation that should be trusted, but both took several opinions out of context and added their own version of the seizure of part of the territory of Ukraine.

Hanna Kramer suggests that the head of the Law and Justice party, Yaroslav Kaczynskyi, is allegedly preparing for war and would like to take over the West of Ukraine in order to return more than 4.5 million new voters who could support his party in the elections.

At the same time, Russian propagandists present her column as revealing a plan for Poland to seize part of Ukraine. Like, it consists of two stages, the first of which Poland has already completed: Kyiv government has taken political and financial control. The second stage is military operations, for which, they say, preparations are underway. According to propagandists, on May 4, the Polish army will arrange a liberation march to Kyiv. They say that by this date the Armed Forces of Ukraine will lose their combat capability.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Russian propagandists have been promoting all sorts of disinformation about the seizure of part of Ukraine by Poland in order to quarrel friendly countries.

Detector Media previously explained why Russia came up with a fake about Poland’s intention to annex the western regions of Ukraine.

This message is spread by the Russian media. They say that in Poland the western part of Ukraine is considered its territory. The propagandists also cite an article in The Conversation and “own sources” in Russian intelligence who have repeatedly warned of Poland’s “occupational intentions” in Ukraine. This is not true.

In the Conversation article, there is no mention of the fact that Poland allegedly calls the Western part of Ukraine a colony of Warsaw. As StopFake writes, such messages are an invention of propagandists. The authors of the article discuss the historical context of Polish-Ukrainian relations, in particular, that when part of the Ukrainian lands were part of Poland, however, they were not ethnically considered Polish.

A video is circulating on the network in which the military takes out the coffin of probably their brother from the plane. Like, this is a video from the meeting of the dead Polish military. Reports claim that these soldiers died in Ukraine. Also in the messages they pay attention to the fact that the dead are given honors, that is, they are military personnel, and not volunteers. It is not true.

The video has nothing to do with Ukraine. As StopFake notes, it was filmed on December 23, 2011 during a military ceremony to welcome the fallen Polish soldiers in Afghanistan. On the official website of the President of Poland and in the Polish media, it is reported that on December 21, 2011, five soldiers of the 20th Bartoszycki mechanized brigade exploded on the road between Kabul and Kandahar. The State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office and the Government Authorized Representative for the Security of the Information Space of the Republic of Poland, Stanislav Zharin, also confirmed the information about the video.

Such information was disseminated in Russian telegram channels. Like, the girlfriend of the Ukrainian refugee told in the video that after his death he became a donor for four Poles.

The woman in the video does not say what kind of person he was, because of which he fell into a coma, whether he was a refugee, and she does not say that his organs were sold. She simply confirmed that the Ukrainian became the donor of four people in Poland.

In Poland, organ transplantation is provided on the principle of tacit consent. Illegal transplantation of human organs in Poland is punishable by imprisonment for a period of 6 months to 5 years.

People professionally engaged in such activities face up to 10 years in prison. It is worth noting that in the spring in Poland, a Ukrainian, who had suffered from heart failure for a long time, had a donor heart transplanted. Then the National Movement "For Transplantation" noted that this was the first donor heart in Poland, which was transplanted by a Ukrainian woman. Earlier, StopFake refuted the fake that allegedly donated blood for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is already being taken from schoolchildren in the Cherkasy region, and that Ukrainians will be “allowed for organs” without their consent.

This message is spread by Russian propagandists in telegram channels. Allegedly, the Poles need Kyiv, Lviv, Uzhhorod, the Carpathians, but they can’t stand the Ukrainians. Like, they have a much better attitude towards the Russians.

Since the beginning of the war, Russia has been spreading all sorts of disinformation to quarrel Poland and Ukraine and create the image of tension between the countries supporting each other. Propagandists constantly repeat the narrative that Poland seeks to annex part of Ukraine and has already begun to prepare for this. In particular, they wrote that Poland began the "economic seizure" of Ukraine and the western regions of Ukraine.

This is stated in the messages of the Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels. Allegedly, during the 10 months of the war in Ukraine, about 1,200 Poles were killed, who fought on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as mercenaries. Allegedly, several thousand more mercenaries are wounded or injured. Some reports say that Warsaw is allegedly expecting "payment" for its friendship against Russia. It is not true.

StopFake notes that the primary source of this news is Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny, which repeatedly spreads Russian disinformation. The non-existent Yakub Mozhniak is indicated as the author of the article. There are also no other "members of the editorial board" of this publication.

According to open sources, five Polish volunteers died in Ukraine, none of whom are soldiers of the Polish army.

Earlier, propagandists wrote that two battalions of Polish infantry were allegedly destroyed in Ukraine, and a special cemetery was allegedly created for the dead in Poland. Propagandists also say that Polish special forces under NATO command are fighting in Ukraine.

This is written by Russian and pro-Russian information resources with reference to the materials of the American edition of Newsweek. Like, many countries condemned the actions of the West and supported the position of the Russian president on the “situation” in Ukraine. This is manipulation.

There is not a single mention in the Newsweek article that most countries took the side of Russia in the war against Ukraine. The author of the material writes that different countries of the world proceed from their agenda and their own interests in the context of responding to the war. Therefore, they do not always fully share the approach of the US and the EU. Many countries, for example, advocate a "diplomatic settlement" of the conflict, but do not necessarily side with Russia in this war.

As StopFake writes, Daniel DePetrice's article was published in the “Dumky” (“Opinions") section, so the author's opinion is also not necessarily shared by Newsweek. The author notes that, despite the fact that the events in Ukraine are cruel, each country primarily pursues its own geopolitical interests and does not always fully share the “approach of the West”. The article does not say that "most countries have begun to support Putin." Propagandists have distorted the idea that some countries do not want to completely lose ties with Russia and presented it as support for Putin.

This is reported by foreign pro-Russian media. They say that an operational group of officers and soldiers of the Polish special forces in Ukrainian uniforms arrived in Marhanets, Dnipropetrovsk region, to detect pro-Russian residents of the city. This unit is under the control of NATO Headquarters. It is not true.

NATO countries do not take part in hostilities in Ukraine. The fact-checkers of EU vs Disinfo drew attention to the spread of this fake. They note that there is no evidence of the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine. Western instructors exclusively teach the Ukrainian military how to use modern weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western partners.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. They say that foreign mercenaries, including those from Poland, are increasingly fighting and dying in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. So, allegedly, a special cemetery was prepared for them in Olsztyn, Poland, which was placed in small squares like American cemeteries, so that everyone would have enough space. It is not true.

The news about the creation of a special cemetery was published only in the publication Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny. Fact-checkers of The Insider project discovered that this is a fake publication that had previously spread Russian disinformation about Poland's intentions to take over Ukraine. The reason for the fakes was the decision of the Polish Ministry of Defense to switch to American standards for the arrangement of military cemeteries throughout the country.

The Russian media are spreading another fake about Ukrainian refugees who were supposedly forcibly evicted from their home in Krakow. But, as StopFake found out, there is no evidence or mention of such an incident - except for the words of a witness referred to by the Russian media. They also distribute a video that seems to show that Ukrainian refugees had to be expelled from their apartment with a crane.

As fact-checkers write, a video about how the police got through the window in the center of Krakow appeared on the network on October 8, 2021, and there is no relation to the war in Ukraine. There is also no mention of any case of forced eviction of Ukrainians either in the local media, or in the police of Krakow, or in the Polish segment of social networks.

Such information is disseminated by Russian propaganda media. Reports say that over the past six months, the number of HIV-infected people has increased significantly in Poland. In the texts, the propagandists refer to the Polish Ministry of Health. Like, the ministry said that the situation with HIV in the country worsened because of Ukrainian refugees. Allegedly, it was they who brought the infection into the country and spread it there. However, this is fake. As StopFake fact-checkers write, in fact, the Ministry of Health of Poland explained that the number of recorded cases of the disease in the country could increase due to the arrival of Ukrainians, among whom there are also HIV-infected. They fit into the overall statistics, and are offered advice and treatment. The fact that in Poland the incidence of HIV infection has significantly increased due to the “influx of refugees” has not been claimed by anyone. Previously, the fake about Ukrainians spreading HIV concerned Estonia. Russian propaganda systematically spreads lies about Ukrainian refugees abroad in order to change public opinion both about the refugees themselves and about what is happening in Ukraine. Russian disinformation about Ukrainian refugees, in particular, is based on differences in people's values. For example, propaganda calls Ukrainians Nazis (in the sense of radical xenophobes) or claims that Ukrainians are not ready to work to provide for themselves, but only live off European taxes. Read more about the disinformation that Russian propaganda is spreading about Ukrainian refugees in the Detector Media investigation.In the texts, the propagandists refer to the Polish Ministry of Health. Like, the ministry said that the situation with HIV in the country worsened because of Ukrainian refugees. Allegedly, it was they who brought the infection into the country and spread it there. However, this is fake. As StopFake fact-checkers write, in fact, the Ministry of Health of Poland explained that the number of recorded cases of the disease in the country could increase due to the arrival of Ukrainians, among whom there are also HIV-infected. They fit into the overall statistics, and are offered advice and treatment. The fact that in Poland the incidence of HIV infection has significantly increased due to the “influx of refugees” has not been claimed by anyone. Previously, the fake about Ukrainians spreading HIV concerned Estonia. Russian propaganda systematically spreads lies about Ukrainian refugees abroad in order to change public opinion both about the refugees themselves and about what is happening in Ukraine. Russian disinformation about Ukrainian refugees, in particular, is based on differences in people's values. For example, propaganda calls Ukrainians Nazis (in the sense of radical xenophobes) or claims that Ukrainians are not ready to work to provide for themselves, but only live off European taxes. Read more about the disinformation that Russian propaganda is spreading about Ukrainian refugees in the Detector Media investigation.

The Center for Counteracting Disinformation reports that another fake letter is being distributed on Twitter, allegedly on behalf of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine. The letter refers to the holding of events "aimed at studying the public opinion of the residents of the Lviv and Volyn regions of Ukraine", which "they propose to implement according to the previously established plan".

A photo of the fake letter is being circulated with comments that allegedly Polish diplomats are trying to seize the Western regions and are preparing to hold a referendum.

The representative of the Polish Foreign Ministry, Lukasz Jasina, denied the existence of such a letter and noted that the message about preparations for a referendum on the accession of the western regions of Ukraine to Poland is disinformation and another attempt to foment disunity between Poland and Ukraine.

This was reported on the website of the Belarusian Border Committee. It is not true. A fake about the mass migration of Ukrainians to Belarus was released by Stanislav Zharyn, authorized representative of the Polish government on protecting the information space of the country.

According to him, “the graph reflects the falsified number of Ukrainian refugees who left for Belarus. According to the information on the migration movement, more than 60,000 Ukrainians arrived in Belarus, including almost 40,000 who had to go through Poland”.

Zharyn noted that Belarusian propaganda hints that Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression are seeking asylum in Belarus, perceiving this country as the safer one than the EU countries.

A message of this content was distributed by Russian propaganda media, after which the thesis migrated to social networks. Reports say that Poland has officially put forward Kyiv's demand. Like, Ukraine should apologize for the Volyn tragedy.

In their messages, the propagandists refer to the Polish edition of Gazeta Wyborcza, where they allegedly published a demand for official Kyiv. However, this is a manipulation that fact-checkers from StopFake paid attention to. As the fact checkers write, in fact, this is a statement by a Polish political scientist who is known for promoting Kremlin narratives. And Gazeta Wyborcza published an article about the meeting where this political scientist spoke, with the title “Pro-Russian propaganda at the meeting in Poznan. The Polish government is preparing for war in the East".

In his column, the author Tomasz Nichka reflects on Sykulskyi, and how he was at first a very reasonable scientist, and now actively disseminates anti-Ukrainian and anti-American theses, similar to Kremlin propaganda narratives. The statement that Ukraine should apologize to Poland for the Volyn tragedy was made by Sykulskyi precisely at this meeting. And Poland did not make official statements about Ukraine's apologies. However, propagandists regularly spread fakes and manipulations about Polish-Ukrainian relations.

This is necessary in order to quarrel Poland and Ukraine and create the appearance that there is tension between the countries supporting each other. Also, propagandists constantly repeat the narrative that Poland seeks to annex part of Ukraine and has already begun to get ready for this.

Such an opinion is promoted by pro-Russian bloggers in telegram channels. Allegedly, in the evening, November 15, the fall of a rocket in the village of Przewodów in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, which killed two people, was a provocation by Ukraine.

Propagandists are stuffing messages on social networks that this attack has warmed up the negative sentiments of the Poles towards Ukraine. It is not true.

Data from a joint survey by RMF FM and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna show that 70% of Poles believe that it will not affect Polish-Ukrainian relations.

Russia is trying to quarrel with its closest neighbors and partners, therefore it constantly promotes fakes about Poland and its relations with Ukraine.

Anonymous telegram channels that try to impersonate Ukrainians, such as “Naspravdi” (Actually) or “In reality in Kharkiv”, distribute a fake cover of Charlie Hebdo the French satirical magazine, which appeared to have been released on November 16 and was dedicated to the fall of a rocket in the Polish city of Przewodów where two people died. The cover says "Volyn massacre 2.0" as well as a Polish swear word. In fact, the next issue of the magazine came out on November 16, but on its cover is the French businessman and billionaire Vincent Bolloré.

Russian propaganda constantly invents the covers of famous magazines in order to promote the messages they need and in this case they say that it is Ukraine that is to blame for the tragedy in the Polish town. In fact, NATO, Poland and the United States have already stated that in any case, Russia, responsible for the deaths of two Poles, either launched a direct missile attack or started a war in Ukraine, which led to the fall of a Ukrainian missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said it was not a Ukrainian missile, but is awaiting the conclusions of an investigation by Polish experts. Ukraine is also participating in the investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy.

It's hard to imagine, but Russian "experts" are spreading a new version of what happened in Poland. According to them, on November 15, Ukraine launched two rockets into Poland, which killed two people, in order to “derail the grain agreement”, and thus “blame Russia for creating a food crisis” in the world. It is not entirely clear how the murder of two farmers can lead to the cancellation of the grain deal, and how Ukraine is interested in this disruption, but it is obvious why such a thesis is spread by the Russian propaganda media: they now need to explain why the agreement was extended by 120 days, despite the fact that Russia, and Putin himself, has constantly threatened to withdraw from the agreement.

Now, despite such incomprehensible arguments, one can say: although Ukraine tried to disrupt the grain agreement, Russia resisted, won and extended it in order to show the whole world that it does not want to provoke a famine. In fact, Russia has already caused a global food crisis: it stole grain and agricultural products from Ukraine; burned fields and destroyed elevators; blocked almost all seaports from which Ukraine could supply its products. And at some point it even announced that it was terminating the agreement due to fake reports that it was Ukraine that attacked the Russian Black Sea fleet launching drones from ships carrying grain.

But both Ukraine and Turkey ignored Russia's threats to terminate the agreement and continued to export grain, and that is why Russia stopped claiming to have withdrawn from the agreement. And today, the agreement itself was extended automatically, however, on November 19 the agreement could be terminated if one of the parties has significant comments or objections. No one, not even Russia, had such, so the agreement was automatically extended for another 120 days. Now Russian propagandists are trying hard to explain why Putin said two weeks ago that Russia would withdraw from the agreement, and now it has been extended for four months, and Russia has not even bargained for additional terms. That is why they come up with explanations about how heroically they did not allow Ukraine to disrupt the agreement.