DISINFO: Polish General Adam Marczak was killed by a Russian missile in Ukraine
SUMMARY
A Polish general who fought on the Ukrainian side was killed in a missile attack in Donbas. Recently, the Polish authorities informed about the unexpected death of General Adam Marczak. This news appeared immediately after the Russian missile strike at the Ukrainian bunker. The Polish authorities did not state that the general died in Ukraine, but many experts believe so.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the Polish Army and Polish mercenaries are directly present in Ukraine.
The claim that Polish General Adam Marczak died in Ukraine as a result of the Russian missile strike is presented without evidence. General Marczak died on 26 March 2024 in the Belgian town of Mons due to natural causes.
Since the outbreak of the large-scale war in Ukraine, pro-Kremlin media have repeatedly claimed that the Polish Army is directly present in Ukraine and that there are thousands of Polish mercenaries.
In January 2024, the Moscow-controlled administration of the occupied Kherson region published a video with an alleged Polish mercenary ‘captured’ by the Russian Army. In the video, an anonymous man tries to speak Polish. However, he has a heavy Russian accent, and his Polish language skills are far from even basic proficiency. It is evident that this person is not Polish.
Ukraine has called on experienced foreign nationals to join its foreign legion, whose members are regular soldiers of the Ukrainian Army as opposed to mercenaries.
In the event that such soldiers would become prisoners of war, as pointed out by experts, the nationality of the soldier is not an issue:
“Combatants are members of the armed forces of a party to the conflict or volunteers corps incorporated therein. According to the ICRC Commentary to Article 4, the requirement for membership in the armed forces, or the incorporation of the volunteer corps, is a matter of domestic regulation. But the incorporated unit must be a professional fighting force, fulfilling the criteria spelled out in Article 4A(2) of GC III, and be subordinate to the regular army command. The fact that an individual is a national of a third State and not a national of the armed forces in which they are serving is widely considered to be irrelevant when it comes to determining combatant or POW status.”
Read similar claims here such as Foreigners from terrorist organisations are fighting for Ukraine.