Skorka: Russian propaganda continues to vilify Ukrainians in Poland

Russian disinformation narratives in Poland still spread anti-Ukrainian messages and continue to spread false stereotypes about Ukrainians even today, said Miroslaw Skorka, head of the Association of Ukrainians in Poland, in an interview with Ukraïner.

“Russian narratives in Poland date back, I would say, to 1945. All the narratives that shaped the identity of the Polish socialist state were pro-Moscow and anti-Ukrainian,” Skorka said.

He said that Moscow’s propaganda was built on three pillars of “global evil”: American imperialism, Zionism, and Ukrainian bourgeois nationalism. This influenced both Polish nationalist and communist movements.

“These narratives constantly came to us from Russia. They merged with Polish nationalist thought, creating what we can call a synthesis of Polish national-communism. With the emergence of an independent Ukraine, the wording changed, but the target remained the same — Ukrainians,” Skorka said.

According to him, Russian propaganda continues to shape Polish-Ukrainian relations, particularly through extreme Polish groups acting on Russia’s behalf, who destroy and deface Ukrainian graves and spread disinformation in the media.

“We saw this many times, and we talked about it ten years ago when Ukrainian graves in Poland began to be destroyed. […] Films documenting the destruction of these graves were immediately broadcast in the so-called ‘DNR’ and ‘LNR.’ Russian TV aired them, while Polish authorities considered it our invention,” Skorka said.

He also noted that the confrontation between Poles and Ukrainians is fueled by Russian propaganda, including historical myths that portray supporters of Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera as fascists.

“And if you follow what’s happening on social media, there’s nothing new. Take, for example, the latest Russian propaganda narratives being actively spread in Poland: that Ukrainians are living off social benefits, then driving expensive cars, taking jobs, and so on,” he said.

Skorka said that, in reality, Ukrainians bolster Poland’s economy by creating jobs as small business owners while contributing to the nation’s gross domestic product – the overall value of goods and services. 

He added that they came to Poland to escape war, not poverty.