Fake: Ukrainians are allegedly being checked for OUN-UPA symbols at the Polish-Ukrainian border
Propagandist Russian Telegram channels are spreading a fake photo of an announcement allegedly posted at one of the border checkpoints between Ukraine and Poland. According to this “announcement”, Ukrainians would be checked for OUN-UPA symbols, including through inspections of tattoos after being forced to undress and by checking personal electronic devices. Experts from VoxCheck identified the announcement as fake.
Why is this a fake?
- Linguistic errors in the text. The announcement contains numerous lexical and stylistic mistakes that are not typical of official documents. For example, it uses the word “dosmotr” instead of the proper Ukrainian “ohliad” (“inspection”), “roziihnutysia” instead of “rozdiahnutysia” (“to undress”), as well as the tautological phrase “symboliky atrybutyky” (“symbols and attributes”), where both words are synonyms.
- Lack of confirmation from reliable sources. Information about such an announcement appeared exclusively in Russian sources. There are no mentions of similar checks in Ukrainian or Polish media. The Western Regional Directorate of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine officially refuted this information on its Facebook page.
- No evidence on official Polish government resources. The “Questions and Answers” section on the official Polish government website regarding border crossing contains no information about inspections of personal gadgets or checks for OUN-UPA symbols.
The fake announcement about checks for OUN-UPA symbols at the Polish-Ukrainian border is part of a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at provoking tensions between Ukraine and Poland. Linguistic errors, the absence of confirmation from reliable sources, and an official refutation by the border guard service all indicate that this information was fabricated.