The Kremlin’s strategic objective is to implement a classic “divide and rule” approach by driving a wedge between Poles and Ukrainians and preventing the emergence of an effective Polish-Ukrainian alliance as a partnership of regional leaders. Analysts at StopFake examined the methods used by Russian propagandists to undermine cooperation between Ukraine and Poland.

According to StopFake, the Ukrainian-Polish partnership poses a direct threat to Russia’s imperial ambitions of subjugating Ukraine and expanding its influence in Central and Eastern Europe, a region Moscow continues to view as its “buffer zone”.

In the Ukrainian information space, relations with Poland have gone through several emotionally charged “information waves”. The positive wave of genuine Polish support following Russia’s full-scale invasion was later replaced by negative narratives surrounding Polish farmers’ blockade of Ukrainian grain transit and the use of the Volyn issue in Polish political debates. Currently, a fourth wave of negative messaging dominates the discourse, fueled by incidents involving falling drones and acts of railway sabotage. Russian propaganda, primarily disseminated through Telegram, actively employs tactics such as denying established facts, shifting blame onto Ukraine by accusing it of provocations aimed at “dragging NATO into the war”, and manipulating the Alliance’s cautious public statements.

In the Polish information space, Russia has only intensified the influence operations it has been conducting since 2022 to weaken the strategic partnership between the two countries. Anti-Ukrainian propaganda has largely migrated to social media and new media platforms, where posts on X achieve the widest reach. These campaigns rely both on historical stereotypes portraying Ukrainians as “Banderites” and on memories of the Volyn tragedy, while also promoting new narratives designed to exploit public anxieties. Among them are claims about the “Ukrainianisation of Poland”, alleged “privileges for Ukrainians”, accusations of Ukrainian “ingratitude”, and arguments that “this is not our war”. Such narratives are often amplified by Eurosceptic politicians and pro-Russian public figures.