According to the findings of the Res Futura research foundation, since Sunday, the thesis about “partisans in Poland” has been intensively promoted on Telegram channels in Russian. This narrative refers to two incidents on the Warsaw-Dorohusk route that took place on November 15-17. In the town of Mika, an explosion destroyed the railway track, and near the Gołąb station, a train carrying 475 passengers had to make an emergency stop due to damage to the railway line.
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Dr. Jakub Olchowski emphasizes that such messages, like other narratives distributed by the Kremlin, reach the Polish infosphere. The expert points out that Russian propaganda is deliberately constructed to serve both internal needs and as an “export good”. In his opinion, Poland is particularly susceptible to this type of manipulation, as shown by previous disinformation incidents, such as the September operation using drones.
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Prime Minister Donald Tusk informed the Sejm that two Ukrainian citizens who had been cooperating with the Russian services for a long time were responsible for the railway incidents. Despite this, Kremlin narratives appeared in the Polish media space suggesting that “Polish partisans”, tired of the war and opposed to the government's policy, were behind the sabotage acts..
Res Futura indicates that Russian sources attribute the actions to alleged “partisans” coming from three groups: Polish opponents of arms supplies to Ukraine, Ukrainian deserters and refugees, and radical political groups. The aim of their actions was to disrupt military supplies, weaken the morale of the elites and express opposition to the alliance with the West.
As Olchowski notes, the Kremlin skillfully uses Polish historical resentments, such as the memory of the Volhynia massacre, to strengthen its anti-Ukrainian message. — In Poland, a pro-Russian message would not gain support, but an anti-Ukrainian one would, the expert explains. He adds that Russia deliberately uses slogans that easily resonate with public emotions.
Russian media also suggest that the acts of sabotage in Poland may be the work of Germany, which would sabotage military supplies to Ukraine as revenge for blowing up the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Such narratives fit into a broader theory about the “intra-European hybrid war” and the alleged chaos in the European Union. In the context of events on the Polish railway, previous attacks on infrastructure in Germany, France and the Czech Republic are also recalled.
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Olchowski emphasizes that such actions are aimed at weakening the cohesion of the West, attacking the European Union and NATO, and arousing hostility in Poles towards Germans and Ukrainians. — The Kremlin propaganda apparatus did a well-thought-out, professional job here, says the expert.
