Russian Disinformation Campaign Targets Polish-Ukrainian Relations

The campaign targets the volatile legacy of the 1943–1945 massacres, a period where roughly 100,000 Poles were killed by Ukrainian insurgents, followed by retaliatory strikes against Ukrainians. These historical wounds reopened recently when President Volodymyr Zelenskiy named a military unit after nationalist figures, leading Polish President Karol Nawrocki to rescind state honors previously awarded to the Ukrainian leader.

Researchers at the Polish Institute of International Affairs note that the current wave of hostility is less about outright fabrication and more about narrative amplification. Automated bot networks are simulating widespread grassroots outrage, successfully pushing fringe far-right sentiments into the mainstream. While Moscow continues to deny interference, the strategic focus remains clear: forcing a wedge between Warsaw and Kyiv by turning historical memory into a modern political liability.