Narratives pushed at Polish audiences by Russian and Belarusian state media and documented influence-operation outlets.
The United States is portrayed as an exhausted power whose military might is supposedly unable to withstand regional forces like Iran. Propaganda focuses on the depletion of American arsenals due to aid for Ukraine and predicts Washington's inevitable defeat in a global confrontation.
The Polish public is being presented with an image of Ukrainian migrants who supposedly despise local labour standards and consider themselves superior to Poles. By amplifying isolated provocative statements, manipulators seek to incite ethnic tension and frame the support given to Ukraine as a mistake.
Belarus is portrayed as a safe and morally resilient alternative to the “decaying” West, which is allegedly dominated by chaos and degradation. Through cultural events and religious discourse, the idea of “Slavic unity” under Minsk’s aegis is promoted to sow Polish distrust in their own state institutions.
Poland and its neighbours are portrayed as participants in secret backroom deals with Moscow to dismember Ukrainian territories. This manipulation presents the idea of liquidating Ukrainian statehood as a concept that is supposedly gaining popularity within political circles in Warsaw and other regional capitals.
Polish outlets linked to pro-Russian circles portray the presence of Ukrainians as a threat to national survival and security. By using “invasion” terminology and manipulatively interpreting citizenship statistics, they attempt to convince the audience of an inevitable demographic catastrophe.
Political disagreements over the taxation of windfall profits for energy companies are presented as evidence of a deliberate disregard for citizen welfare in favour of big business. Manipulative coverage of the conflict between the government and the President aims to convince Poles that state institutions work exclusively to enrich corporations rather than provide social protection.
Western aid to Ukraine is portrayed as a temporary phenomenon that depends solely on the personal ambitions of individual leaders and is doomed to imminent collapse. By manipulatively interpreting Western analysis, the narrative promotes the idea that leadership changes in the UK and France will inevitably lead to the cessation of support for Kyiv.
Russian diplomatic missions in Poland use historical exhibitions and meetings with loyalist activists to promote the Soviet version of the Second World War. These activities aim to legitimise the USSR’s role as the sole “saviour” of Europe while ignoring the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the decades of subsequent Soviet occupation.
The Ukrainian armed forces and security services are portrayed as criminal entities that deliberately endanger civilians and practice extrajudicial killings. Propaganda outlets exploit the tragic consequences of Russian shelling and isolated criminal incidents to push the thesis of a “terrorist state” with which Poland should not cooperate.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is portrayed as the primary obstacle to peace, allegedly driven by personal interest in prolonging the conflict to maintain power and accumulate wealth. Propaganda outlets use manipulatively interpreted statements from former officials to shift the blame for casualties and economic losses from the aggressor to the Ukrainian leadership.
Polish political elites are portrayed as incompetent and detached actors who groundlessly incite fear of Russian aggression. The propaganda promotes the idea that Warsaw imposes its flawed forecasts on allies while ignoring pragmatic geopolitical solutions, such as turning Ukraine into a neutral “buffer zone”.
Polish audiences are being told that the cancellation of temporary protection for military-aged Ukrainians is inevitable. Manipulators use statements from foreign officials to frame the withdrawal of asylum as a coordinated EU policy aimed at the forced mobilisation of refugees.