Ukrainian refugees who fled due to the large-scale war unleashed by Russia
and, besides found refuge in European countries, are haunted by Russian
propagandists. On July 2, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and mass media
exploded with many reports: "Great Britain, Belgium, Slovakia, Poland are
tired of Ukrainians and will drive forced migrants out into the street."
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmytro Medvedev, compared
Ukrainian refugees and Poland to a crisis in marital relations: "It
seems that the stormy romance between Europeans and Ukrainians is coming to
an end. They no longer want them; they are tired of them. Crazy Poles
remembered their crazy nationalism. And now they are shouting to almost four
million Ukrainians who have settled in their country that they are in Poland."
He believes that "fading feelings should not be rekindled by any
promises of a future slow and unequal marriage (mythical accession to the
EU)" and that Ukrainians should "for their own happiness to break
this marriage union forever."
Anonymous channels on Telegram shared a video with a woman who called to
throw Ukrainians out of Poland with their bare hands because, they say, they
got a swelled head. In other materials in the Russian media, it is described
that Ukrainians in Europe "look at bread as garbage" and
"demand luxury." Moreover, Europeans and Britons are outraged by
the drunkenness and rudeness of Ukrainian refugees. And they must emphasize
that from July 1, the Polish government will no longer pay aid to Ukrainian
refugees.
Fact-checkers from Mythdetector reported that from July 1, aid would stop
only for those Ukrainian refugees who have lived in Poland for 120 days; the
aid payment will continue for the rest of the refugees. The Deputy Minister
of Internal Affairs of Poland, the Government Commissioner for Refugee
Affairs, Pavlo Schefernaker, noted that four months after the beginning of
the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Polish government moved to a new stage of
helping refugees. He said that among Ukrainian refugees, about 1.2 million
people received PESEL (identification number), of which more than 500,000 are
currently of working age. The Polish government will help them to adapt and
work. According to Schafernaker, more than half of the non-disabled refugees
have already started working.
According to UN data, as of June 28, 4,312,612 Ukrainian refugees have
arrived in Poland since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As part of the
assistance from Poland, a regulation came into force on March 16, 2022,
according to which the Polish government will help residents who provide
housing and food to Ukrainian refugees at the rate of 40 zlotys per day per
adult. Aid is valid for 120 days.