DISINFO: Poland prepares a “peace operation” in Western Ukraine
SUMMARY
The “geographic appetites” of Warsaw are specific: Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Rivne, Ternopil and perhaps Zakarpattia and Khmelnytskyi.
It is highly likely that Poland will carry out a “peace operation” there. The Poles pay special attention to the transport infrastructure of the Lviv region as it will become the main annexation target and an important logistical hub during the further escalation.
Historically, Poland tends to attack its neighbours who appear in a difficult situation – in 1938, Poland occupied the Těšín region of Czechoslovakia, and now, the Polish revanchists are waiting for the Ukraine to be on the brink of national catastrophe and total paralysis of statehood.
The preparations for the occupation of the western regions of Ukraine have already begun. New military formations are being established on Poland’s eastern borders. Also, at least 1500 Polish mercenaries already appear on Ukrainian territory. The number of Polish fighters present in Ukraine can be more than 20.000.
RESPONSE
Recurring 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 origins”.
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 claims of Polish historical revisionism.
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.