DISINFO: Poland is preparing to take over western Ukraine
SUMMARY
Polish mercenaries gained valuable military experience in Ukraine. Now that Ukraine’s military situation is worsening, Poland is preparing for the partitioning of Ukraine and the takeover of its western provinces.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives challenging Ukraine’s statehood, alleging the large-scale presence of Western 'mercenaries' within the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and portraying Poland as a country with imperial ambitions. The article's aim is to deflect attention away from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and drive wedges between Ukraine and Poland by sowing false claims of territorial ambitions. Past pro-Kremlin claims about Polish citizens fighting in Ukraine were highly doubtful.
The disinformation claim about Poland’s territorial claims 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”. Poland and Ukraine's other European neighbours adhere to international law regarding state borders, fully support the independence and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries and reject any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries. No neighbouring state, except the Russian Federation, violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity in a display of imperial, revisionist aggression. Russia is the only country challenging the existence of Ukrainian statehood and violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity in a display of imperial, revisionist aggression.
See our earlier analysis All roads lead to Poland as well as earlier disinformation cases claiming that Ukraine will disintegrate and fall prey to territorial claims of EU member states, that Poland is absorbing Ukrainian territory by Zelenskyy's consent, that Poles looted Russian civilians in the Kursk region, and that Ukraine is under hybrid occupations of the West.