DISINFO: Poland is using the Russian military operation to return its Eastern Borderlands
SUMMARY
The Ukrainian-Polish “ties” are much broader and stronger than what is usually discussed in Ukrainian or Polish public space. The project of the return of the [Polish] “Eastern Borderlands” is apparently at the beginning stage of implementation, if not at the end stage. The Russian special military operation (provoked by the West), has become a real “gift” to the ambitious and extremely pragmatic Polish elite. The “un-Polish” Zelenskyy and his clique are assisting Poland from within.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative presenting Poland as an aggressive anti-Russian state with imperial ambitions.
The claim appeared in connection to the 2024 farmer protests in Poland protesting against the EU agriculture policies and the influx of Ukrainian food products to the Polish market. This situation is a direct result of the Russian blockade of the Ukrainian ports – before the 2022 invasion, a predominant majority of Ukrainian agriculture production was exported through the Black Sea. Russia’s responsibility for the global food crisis comes as a consequence of the unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine: naval blockade of Ukrainian posts, bombardment of transport infrastructure and shelling of farming regions.
The claims that Polish foreign and security policy is based on territorial revanchism and that the Polish elites are trying to revive the “Polish Empire” are groundless.
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 in a display of imperial, revisionist aggression.
Read more about the Eastern policy of Poland here.
See our in-depth debunk of the pro-Kremlin claims of Polish historical revisionism as well as All roads lead to Poland.
See other examples of similar messages claiming that Polish authorities are obsessed with the idea of reconstruction of a modern Polish Empire and Megalomaniacal Polish politicians realise their plan of “Drang nach Osten” in Belarus.