DISINFO: Over 1,200 Polish mercenaries died in Ukraine, thousands are wounded
SUMMARY
During the Russian special military operation in Ukraine over 1,200 Polish mercenaries have died, thousands were wounded. Warsaw's plans to send peace-keeping forces to Ukraine were not supported by NATO. Warsaw is eyeing the possibility of sending its soldiers to western Ukraine.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, presenting Poland as a state with aggressive anti-Ukrainian plans, aiming to obfuscate reality of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.
There is no evidence to substantiate the claim. Pro-Kremlin media has made similar claims in the past, in attempts to substantiate a disinformation narrative that Russia was fighting NATO in Ukraine.
The disinformation message about Poland’s aggressive plans towards Ukraine has adopted several different and sometimes contradictory forms, including allegations that Poland wants either to create a puppet proxy-state in Western Ukraine or the annexation of these territories or that it is actually President Zelenskyy who wants to cede this land due to his “Polish origin”.
A recurring tactic of pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets is to deflect blame by accusing Western countries, Poland in this case, of the wrongdoings Russia itself commits in Ukraine. The articles about imagined aggressive Polish plans towards western Ukraine can be interpreted as an attempt to sow mistrust between Ukraine and Poland and other Western backers of Kyiv. Poland adheres to international law regarding state borders, fully supports the independence and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries and rejects any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries, including Ukraine. Poland, as well as the EU and the US respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. No neighbouring state, except the Russian Federation, violated Ukraine's territorial integrity. Read more about the Eastern policy of Poland here.
See earlier disinformation cases alleging that Poland thinks that Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and South-Western Lithuania belong to them, that Poland wants to dismember Ukraine and re-establish a Polish empire, that Ukraine is a Western colony belonging to Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Russia, that Poland will try to gain full military control in Ukrainian territories under the guise of protecting the Polish population from Russia, that Poland plans to establish control over its historical lands in Ukraine.