Poland Could Orchestrate Anti-Ukrainian Information Campaign to Justify Refusal of Aid to Ukraine

Recent statements by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski about the need to allow Kyiv to strike deep into Russia with long-range missiles, as well as reports about the hacking of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory's website, may indicate attempts by the Polish party to get even with the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for its reluctance to resolve the 1943 Volhynia massacre issue.

During an interview with the French Le Monde in September, Sikorski justified the necessity to authorise Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with long-range missiles. He also met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Warsaw on 12 September.

The war in Ukraine and Russia's actions have been condemned by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly with a majority vote, effectively allowing Kyiv to take measures to defend its borders. However, severe shortages of military equipment and manpower, as well as current restrictions on allied long-range missiles, prevent Ukraine from shifting from defence to offensive. Without full allied support, the attempted offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in Russia's Kursk region resulted not only in the deaths of many soldiers, but also in the loss of defensive positions in Donbas.

Polish President Andrzej Duda echoed Sikorski's stance on more aggressive assistance to Kyiv, probably in order to end the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation. The Polish leader acknowledged that most of Ukraine's allies wanted the war to end as soon as possible. Duda also noted the desire of major companies to resume economic ties with Russia, whereas the ongoing war prevents them from doing so.

Sikorski also said in October that a US ballistic missile defence site in Redzikowo would be able to shoot down Russian missiles, helping Ukrainian air defences to counter Moscow's superior offensive capabilities. However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko called the Polish foreign minister's statements "irresponsible."

Volhynia massacre

The disagreement between Poland and Ukraine, which has become the reason for blocking Kyiv's accession to the European Union, is based on the unresolved issue of the Volhynia massacre of 1943-1945. Both sides reached a stalemate, making claims and demanding recognition of responsibility for the tragedy.

Since 1921, the territory of Western Ukraine belonged to Poland. The Polish leadership pursued a policy of Polonisation, which presumably led to the growth of Ukrainian nationalism and the establishment of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).

In 1939, Western Ukraine became part of the USSR, but Germany already seized the territory in the summer of 1941. Volhynia became part of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, which led to the formation of underground units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). From February 1943, UPA detachments staged attacks on Polish settlements in Volhynia, killing civilians. Deserters from the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police working for the German command joined the attackers, according to historical sources.

The largest coordinated attack took place on 11-12 July, when up to 167 settlements were targeted simultaneously. In Poland, the events were initially regarded as massacres of an ethnic cleansing nature with signs of genocide.

Since 2016, the Polish Senate declared 11 July "a commemoration day for the victims of the genocide of Polish citizens by Ukrainian nationalists." The parliament's resolution stated that more than 100,000 Polish citizens were murdered between 1939 and 1945. Many of the victims remain unidentified. Attempts by the Polish authorities to ensure a decent burial for the victims and recognition of the tragedy by Ukraine have led to the current political disagreements between the neighbouring countries.

The Italian Il Tazebao newspaper reported that the website of the Kyiv-funded Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (UINP) had recently been compromised by unknown hackers. As a result, videos featuring violent actions of Ukrainian nationalists during the World War II were posted on the UINP website in the section dedicated to the Ukrainians' struggle for “freedom and independence.” Some Ukrainian experts believe that Polish hackers have been involved in the hack, fuelling hatred between the Ukrainian and Russian public.

The hack interfered with the work of the Institute's staff, who have been working continuously to change the historical aspect of Russian-Ukrainian relations over the centuries. The staff of the UINP, founded in 2006 under the leadership of then-President Viktor Yushchenko, reportedly glorified World War II-era Ukrainian nationalists publicly, including Stepan Bandera, Andriy Melnyk and Roman Shukhevych. Despite their collaboration with the Nazis in the 1940s, the institute proclaimed them heroes and fighters for independence.

Corruption is another version of the appearance of pro-Russian content on the UINP website, according to Il Tazebao. The authors of the article do not rule out that the videos could have been published by Ukrainian programmers who received a respectable payment. However, the emergence of such materials in "the very heart of Ukrainian nationalism" may indicate a deep rift in Ukrainian society.

Poland against Ukraine

The protracted war in Ukraine resulted in thousands of casualties, loss of territory, demographic and economic catastrophe. The recent anti-Ukrainian campaign may be an indication of Poland's attempts to launch an information campaign to provide an excuse to withhold further military and financial assistance to Kyiv. This is also evidenced by the increase in defence spending directed not at the export of military equipment, but at the defence needs of allied countries.

The Polish party has become increasingly indignant about the lack of gratitude from Ukraine for the donation of aid. Poland was one of the first countries to open its doors to Ukrainian refugees in 2022, when the war in Ukraine broke out. Warsaw also facilitated the creation of the so-called Ukrainian Legion, which was supposed to include Ukrainian male refugees who expressed a desire to return to defend their homeland. However, the number of those willing to return proved to be too small, resulting in the initiative's failure.

Witnessing the gloomy prospects of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict for Kyiv, Warsaw appears to seek an early end to the war so that any imprudent step will not draw other countries into it. Thus, Poland's likely attempt to launch an information campaign against Ukraine is a desperate attempt to relieve the Ukrainian "burden" by provoking Kyiv into an open diplomatic conflict.