Ukrainian refugees from Poland say they are more and more the target of attacks. The role played by the election campaign

The anti-Ukrainian feeling has grown considerably in recent months in Poland. Many Ukrainians who spoke to the BBC have described abuses they were facing in public transport, intimidation in schools and xenophobic materials on the Internet. A polarizing presidential election campaign has increased tension, the first round of elections taking place on Sunday.

Svitlana, a 31 -year -old woman, says she liked her daughter in Poland. “Even when we moved to another area, she did not want to change school,” says the mother. “He liked it so much. There was no intimidation.”

Now, she says the atmosphere at school, and from Poland in general, has changed. “Two weeks ago, he came home and said,” A boy told me today: return to Ukraine. ”

The day after Svitlana's daughter was told to return to Ukraine, abuses became even more serious.

“The girls in the top class began to complain that she speaks Ukrainian. Then they slammed to the ground shouting” rocket! To the ground! ” And they were laughing, ”says Svitlana. “He came home crying.”

A few days before, a Russian rocket hit the hometown of Svitlan in Ukraine, killing dozens of civilians, including children. Her daughter was traumatized.

Svitlana, a name offered by the BBC for protection, did not want to be identified because it is afraid of reprisals. She presented to the BBC journalists screenshots of the messages with the school staff in which she complains about the treatment of her daughter.

“It is frightening to live here now.”

The woman also said that she noticed the change of attitude towards the Ukrainians and in other places: “At work, many people say that the Ukrainians come here and behave badly. And my Ukrainian friends say they want to go home because the Poles do not accept us. It is frightening to live here.”

According to government statistics, at least 2.5 million Ukrainians live in Poland, representing almost 7% of Poland's total population.

When the widespread invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, there was a compassionate poverty. It was amazing. Every day, people were calling, asking, “How can we help?” Says activist Natalia Panchenko, head of the “Stand With Ukraine” Foundation, based in Warsaw.

“Some of them organized humanitarian convoys or brought refugees here. They donated their homes, food, everything they had and hearts,” says

Three years later, Natalia believes that most Poles still support Ukraine. But some do not agree, and her organization has noticed a recrudescence of online abuse against Ukraine, which started a few months ago.

“Then they started to appear in real life,” she says. “Recently, we have more and more situations of this kind … [abuzuri] Xenophobes against people who work in shops or hotels just because they speak with Ukrainian accent, ”she explains.

Natalia says that many Ukrainian refugees are traumatized. “These groups of women and children are in Poland because of the war, very often their relatives are on the front line, in captivity or killed, and this is the group of people.”

What do opinion polls say

Research suggests that Polish public opinion about Ukrainians really gets worse. According to a survey conducted in March 2025 by the respected CBOS center, only 50 % of the Poles are in favor of accepting Ukrainian refugees, a decrease of seven percentage points in four months. Two years ago, the percentage was 81 %.

About one million Ukrainians are officially registered as arriving after the beginning of the large -scale invasion. Poland spends 4.2% of its GDP for Ukrainian refugees.

Ukraine, subject in the presidential campaign

Ukraine has become a hot political topic in the crucial campaign for the presidential elections in Poland. The far right candidate Slawomir Mentzen, currently on the third place in polls, is virulent antiucrainean and holds an “agreement” with Vladimir Putin.

In the second place is the Conservative Karol Nawrocki, who opposes Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO and the financial assistance to refugees, but supports the effort of war.

The most pro-Ukraine candidate is Vafal Trzaskowski, a candidate from Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition, but he also promised a reduction in social aid for Ukrainians. According to political analyst Marcin Zaborowski, Trzaskowski has refrained from promoting his pro-Ukrainian credentials to attract centrist vote in elections.