Russia is conducting an operation in Poland aimed at arousing anti-Ukrainian sentiments, warned the General Staff of the Polish Army. – Poles are resistant to pro-Russian slogans, but history plays an important role. And Russia is taking advantage of it, Łukasz Adamski, deputy director of the Mieroszewski Center, told PAP.
“Beware of the intense Russian cognitive operation aimed at destroying positive Polish-Ukrainian emotional relations and arousing anti-Ukrainian sentiments in Poland. A Russian psychological operation is underway, which exploits Polish fears and historical events, and also arouses envy and resentment of both nations towards each other,” the General Staff of the Polish Army wrote in a statement published on Monday on its website.
A study by Johns Hopkins University and Imperial College London, published on the NATO website, shows that Cognitive warfare is “actions aimed at changing not only what people think, but also the way they think and behave.” “When conducted, it effectively shapes the beliefs and attitudes of individuals and groups, serving the tactical or strategic goals of the aggressor,” the experts wrote in their report.
The General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces wrote in its statement that as part of these activities, Moscow uses, among others: an outpouring of hate and incitement against Ukrainians in Poland, attacks in cyberspace, arson and disruption of GPS signals. It was also noted that profiles of public figures and influencers from various areas of activity are involved in promoting these narratives.
Łukasz Adamski, deputy director of the Dialogue Center. Juliusz Mieroszewski, in an interview with PAP, emphasized that disinformation technology is “as old as time”, but the development of social media platforms and the decline in the ability to think critically among modern societies make its effects particularly dangerous today.
As he noted, Russian disinformation is not the only source of tension in Polish-Ukrainian relations.
– There are also factors such as fatigue with the excessive presence of Ukrainians in Poland, difficulties in adapting to cultural norms and mistakes of the Ukrainian state in relation to certain basic Polish demands. These errors are being corrected, but much too late, Adamski said, adding that despite this, Russian disinformation significantly influences the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainians.
– I have been going to Ukraine regularly since the beginning of the war. Besides, I'm in Kiev now. I notice the presence of this disinformation here as well, but it is directed against Poles – admitted the PAP interlocutor. He pointed out that in Poland, Russian propaganda mainly highlights historical issues, alleged lack of gratitude and all violations of the law allegedly committed by Ukrainians.
In turn – as Adamski noticed – in Ukraine, people associated with Ukrainian nationalist circles, and sometimes openly flaunting their membership in specific organizations, often spread historical fake news from about 9-10 years ago.
– For example, claims that Hitler took part in Piłsudski's funeral, or that Poland and Germany partitioned Czechoslovakia – recalled the expert.
Adamski pointed out that these the narratives were invented in the Kremlin and then “released” into the Ukrainian nationalist environment – among people who have no connections with Russia and are fighting against it, and yet unknowingly spread them.
His observations also show that troll activity on social media platforms has recently increased significantly. These are usually unverified accounts, with zero entry history, often impersonating real people, Adamski pointed out.
– This month I gave an interview to a popular Ukrainian radio station and spoke to editor Bogdan Rymanowski. While browsing through the comments during the recording, I noticed the entry: “Adamski is a Ukrainian agent, but an intelligent one.” However, under the interview in Ukrainian, there was a Ukrainian-language entry, written from the same account, which stated that “Adamski is an agent of the Polish secret services,” the interlocutor told PAP.
Łukasz Adamski explained that Russia is intensively trying to reduce the level of support of Polish society for Ukraine, which is fighting for its independent existence. At the same time, it is difficult for her to convince Polish society of pro-Russian slogans. That is why it invests significant resources in promoting hate against Ukrainians in Polish social media, and recently the budget of the Russian structures responsible for these activities has been increased even more.
The deputy head of the Mieroszewski Center argued that Poland's situation is specific because it is a country that is still quite resistant to pro-Russian slogans. Resilience, which is the result of our centuries of experience in relations with Russia. At the same time, we have historical experience not only with Russia, but also with Ukraine. History in general is important for Polish society. It plays a much greater role in public debate than in other European countries. And Russia is taking advantage of it.
Although the expert has no doubt that this is a dangerous phenomenon, his belief is confirmed by the fact that soldiers of the Polish army are now talking about it, i.e. people who have intelligence tools and special technologies that measure the scope of this phenomenon.
Another PAP interlocutor, prof., has similar observations. Ph.D. Roman Baecker, lecturer at the Faculty of Political and Security Sciences of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. As he argued, Russian cognitive activities usually fail in Poland due to relatively good historical memory. However, in addition to this not very effective direction of influence, the Russians are increasing awareness attacks by disseminating all possible forms of narratives, beliefs, influences, opinions and often false facts in two directions.
– The first of them, as indicated in the statement of the General Staff of the Polish Army, is directed against the Ukrainian nation and in this case historical arguments are most often used, usually regarding the Volhynia massacre – explained Prof. Baecker.
In his opinion, the second trend of Russian influence regarding Polish-Ukrainian relations consists in persuading that Ukrainians are allegedly ungrateful and do not respect the support of Poles, are unable to function in a friendly environment in the Polish environment and, above all, are not entitled to the alleged extraordinary privileges they are granted, and thus Poles are deprived of them.
As Roman Baecker pointed out, The ally of the Russian propaganda apparatus is the slow growing fatigue of Western societies with the war in Ukraine. This is a phenomenon typical of all societies receiving a large wave of emigration, especially if it is war emigration, post-uprising emigration or resulting from political repression.
The PAP interlocutor gave the example of emigration after the November Uprising. At first, Poles were welcomed and hosted like heroes in France and German lands, only to find a place in homeless shelters after a few years. – After December 13, 1981, Poles were welcomed joyfully in the West because they were repressed. After some time, they had to understand that they would either completely assimilate or be unnoticed and pushed to the margins, the expert recalled.
In his opinion, talking about the meaning and consequences of anti-Ukrainian sentiments is very necessary, and such actions should be taken much more often. And not only in the form of messages. (PAP)
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