Rosyjska dezinformacja dotycząca Polski. Eskalacja zaangażowania Moskwy na „froncie amerykańskim”

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Despite the emergence of a crucial media factor, represented by the demolition of an aircraft carrying individuals connected to the alleged “Wagner Group”, the Russian disinformation apparatus has not considerably reduced the dissemination of messages that depreciate the image of Poland and Polish people.

The main areas of impact proceed to be the portrayal of Poland as a “threat to peace” in the region and the positioning of Poland as an allegedly “aggressive” country liable for the possible emergence of a fresh crisis. Russian interest has been sparked by matters relating to the emergence in the military possible of Poland, the movement of Polish forces towards the east part of the country, Polish-Ukrainian relations and the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Leading messages and narratives broadcast about Poland during the period of 23/08/2023-25/08/2023:

Poland is “getting ready” to attack Ukraine and Belarus;
Poland “is militarising its society”;
Poland is “provoking Russia”, putting itself at hazard of destruction;

In Poland, there is an expanding number of attacks on Ukrainians and acts of aggression from Ukrainians (creating narratives about the alleged widespread nature of the phenomenon);
Poland is simply a “Russophobic” country;
The upcoming elections “won’t be democratic” (“the Polish regime” rigs elections just as it “rigged the erstwhile ones”).

In addition to the above messages, it is worth noting that the Russian disinformation apparatus has released materials related to the deaths of Poles in connection with the presence of Legionella bacteria in the Subcarpathia state (Podkarpackie). Russian disinformation apparatus (including sources utilized by the abroad Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation) – in this context – published materials pointing to Ukrainian refugees as allegedly guilty of “bringing” the said bacteria to Poland. The given fake news represents an effort to exploit the occurrence of a peculiar phenomenon to incite antipathy towards a designated group of people (pointing out a “scapegoat”). Accusations blaming Ukrainians for “bringing bacteria” to Rzeszów besides appeared in the Polish infosphere (through Russian Polish-language sources).

Moscow is making a sustained effort to harm the image of the Republic of Poland for its interior and external objectives. It creates its material based on fake news or supports it with created factors or favourable factors independent of Moscow. Deliberately prepared/created factors include, for example, comments from individuals who, while collaborating with Russia, supply specified “services”. Comments from alleged “opportunists”, who have different motivations (than cooperation with the Kremlin), are independent factors that incline them to provoke or misinform their audience.

Russians release materials that showcase favourable messages from their perspective, exerting influence on the infosphere of many countries based on the indicated factors. In fresh times, a clear mobilisation of American pro-Russian disinformation agents has been observed, who are connected to journalistic environments supporting Donald Trump’s election campaign. An example could be Douglas MacGregor’s (a pro-Russian pseudo-expert) invitation to a conversation from Tucker Carlson (a popular writer associated with Donald Trump), during which words were utilized to propose that Russia supposedly achieved its goals in Ukraine and the USA experienced a “complete failure” (creating a Washington political line that is “disastrous for the USA”). It was besides implied in the conversation that the USA should promptly negociate with Russia to prevent a situation where the Russian army shows up close Lviv. The given action serves as an illustration of persuading the American public opinion that supporting Ukraine contradicts the interest of the USA. The given speech besides served the Russians to build Russian-language materials resonating with these theses. The aforementioned pseudo-expert besides frequently contaminated the American infosphere with claims about Poland’s alleged plans regarding an attack on Ukraine and Belarus.

The Russian disinformation device not only centres its activities on the Russian-speaking realm, but besides devotes more attention to disseminating its narratives to the information spheres of another nations. From the position of Poland, the activation of Russians on the “American direction” seems peculiarly harmful – by persuading US citizens that it is “worthwhile” to withhold support for Ukraine and limit military engagement in Europe (while simultaneously suggesting that only the current president’s opponent can accomplish these goals).

Author: dr Michał Marek

Public task financed by the Ministry of abroad Affairs of the Republic of Poland within thegrant comp etition “Public Diplomacy 2023”