CPD warns of large-scale campaign to discredit Ukrainians in Poland

The number of fakes about Ukrainians has increased sharply in the Polish segment of social networks. The main goal of such a campaign is to discredit Ukrainians and worsen relations between Ukraine and Poland.

This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

According to the CPD, false messages are being spread through a network of Facebook pages and specially created websites. Every day, they publish fabricated stories about alleged crimes committed by Ukrainians or manipulate topics that are sensitive to Polish society.

Among the latest examples, the Center cited a fake about an alleged Ukrainian couple who set fire to an apartment building in the city of Zombki. In reality, the fire did occur, but it was caused by careless handling of fire, and the Ukrainians were not involved in the incident.

Another fake concerned a fictional Polish police special operation called “Iron Fist,” which was supposed to detain illegal migrants and Ukrainians evading mobilization. The CPD emphasizes that no such operation was carried out, and that old photos were used for the publications that are unrelated to these allegations.

Propagandists also spread false information about the detention of a “gang of Ukrainian collectors.” In reality, the four Polish citizens were involved, but the fake materials called them Ukrainians.

The Center noted that Polish fact-checkers from the Demagog platform link the spread of these posts to the cafex.biz website network, which has previously come under scrutiny for fraudulent activity. According to them, the network is administered from Vietnam and uses clickbait fakes to make money, although analysts do not rule out that it could also be an element of a coordinated information operation.

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