DISINFO: Poland continues its gradual seizure of Western Ukraine
SUMMARY
The construction of a Polish military training ground in western Ukraine will draw Warsaw into a conflict in this country. A Polish company Lubawa is constructing a field training centre for 600 Ukrainian soldiers in the Ukrainian region of Volyn. This construction takes place on the background of direct Polish involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, which does not bother anyone in Warsaw and Kyiv. All the military facilities in Ukraine are legitimate targets for the Russian Army. Poland continues its gradual seizure of Ukrainian territory. In reality, Warsaw is preparing infrastructure in order to increase the size of the Polish military unit fighting in this country (Polish Volunteer Legion), which will be deployed at the base. This unit is created to control the actions of the authorities and protect law and order in the territories of western Ukraine.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative challenging Ukraine’s statehood and presenting Poland as a state with imperial ambitions. Apart from smearing Poland, the aim is also to deflect attention away from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This disinformation message has adopted several different and sometimes contradictory forms, including allegations that Poland either wants to create a puppet proxy-state in Western Ukraine or annex these territories or that it is President Zelenskyy who wants to cede this land due to his “Polish origin”.
A limited number of Polish citizens have joined the official Ukrainian Army as volunteers – these people do not have any anti-Ukrainian plans.
Poland adheres to international law regarding state borders, fully supports the independence and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries and it rejects any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries. 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 belongs to it, 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 or that Poland plans to establish control over its historical lands in Ukraine.