Poland
Criticism of the Polish Army and Ministry of Defense
The news about the death of a Polish soldier on August 5 at the Wicko Morske training ground on the Baltic Sea coast was reacted to as follows: «The young generation of Poland should think about whether to join the army, where after 2 months [the deceased began his service in June 2024 – ed.] you will never be able to return home. And this is in peacetime. At the same time, they also doubted Poland’s ability to increase the number of troops: «Judging by the weekly emergencies that occur in the Polish army, the Ministry of Defense will not be able to fulfill its plan of 300 thousand tin soldiers». At the same time, the telegram channel «BelVPO» concluded that «the incident shows the weakened discipline among the Polish uniforms and the lack of proper control by the leadership.
The dismissal of a number of Polish generals after Tusk’s government came to power at the end of 2023 was characterized as «serious purges» in the state apparatus, and that in this way «the new Polish government started to remove representatives of the Duda-Morawiecki regime from their posts». In parallel, defense ministers from the previous government were also criticized for allegedly appointing people loyal to themselves to senior positions in the army, regardless of their lack of professional qualities.
Criticizing the sending of a large number of servicemen to the border with Belarus, the Telegram channel «Nevolfovich» quoted the words of retired General W.Skrzyszciak: «Almost half of the Polish army is standing on the border instead of preparing for war. Instead of doing combat training in the field, firing tanks and howitzers, the soldiers are wandering in the forest behind the fence».
A comment in connection with road closures in Warsaw due to preparations for the military parade to be held on Polish Army Day on August 15 was like this: «We are waiting for statements from fugitives about the senseless waste of the Polish state treasury and the destruction of local roads by NATO occupation troops. Or is it different?».
Also on the eve of the Polish Army Day, the «BelVPO» Telegram channel published article «Holiday with tears in its eyes: infighting in the Polish Army» (a more detailed version of — on the site «Military and Political Review»). Among the problems listed by the author of the article are: lack of interaction between the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff due to personal animosity of the Polish military towards each other; insufficient supply of troops involved in the protection of the state border; and the actual absence of a public alert system.
Citing data on personnel problems in the armies of EU countries, including Poland, the authors of one of the pro-regime Telegram channels summarized: «The entire EU garden is experiencing difficulties in recruiting new soldiers. In addition, a generation of young Europeans was brought up in a completely different political reality — they are «pink ponies that ride on rainbows».
The dismissal from the Polish Army of influencer Marianne Schreiber, who had reported cases of harassment during her service, was commented on as follows: «Violence, deaths and incidents — that’s how you can describe the Polish Army».
Militarization and preparation for war
On August 5, the Polish Defense Ministry signed agreements with Boeing and General Electric concerning the maintenance of 96 AH-64E Apache helicopters, which are scheduled for delivery from the United States this year. Telegram channel «BelVPO» on this occasion wrote : «The Polish regime under the guise of fighting the «Eastern Threat» at the expense of ordinary Poles continues to enrich the American military-industrial lobby».
They also reacted to the news about the signing of an agreement with the United States to supply the Polish army in 2029-2033 with AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, which are used as the main armament for F-15, F-16 and F-22 fighter jets: «It is no secret that the Polish authorities in recent years have begun to build up the country’s military potential at a record pace … All these actions can obviously be regarded as preparations for the «invasion» of Russia invented by the West».
Regarding the negotiations on the supply of self-propelled howitzers AHS Krab to the Polish army, the authors of the telegram channel «Belarusian Front» ironized: «Poland is not preparing for war, so it wants to buy 96 howitzers», calling the country’s leadership «peace-loving Polish government, acting as a model of good-neighborly relations».
They also criticized the delivery of two Saab 340 AEW long-range radar detection planes to Poland by the Swedes: «They could have spent this money on ambulances or MRI machines for hospitals. Finally, to build schools for citizens … But large-scale militarization was more important than ordinary Poles».
The completed Polish-U.S. Rotation 24-3 drills to rotate U.S. F-16 fighter jets stationed at the Laska air base, as well as the increased activity in recent weeks by the Polish Air Force and NATO’s Airborne Forces in the country’s airspace, have been called «preparations for escalation on the Eastern Flank.»
The results of a survey among Polish youth, in which 49.8% of respondents expressed fear for the country’s possible participation in a war in the near future, were commented on in the Telegram channel «Nevolfovich» as follows: «Obviously, the Polish people are not burning with the desire to go to war. This is what explains the anxiety. If war with Russia breaks out, Poland may repeat the fate of Ukraine, where today people are forced to go to slaughter on the orders of the West. And the Poles know the result in advance. Parsing the same news, another pro-government telegram channel noted, that «Polish society is not ready to defend the interests of local politicians suffering from manic war addiction».
At the same time, under the headline «Alarmed Poles write to bot, say government is preparing them for war,» a post was published about the appearance on Polish TV and Youtube of a video with rules of behavior when an air alert is announced.
On August 11, during a meeting at the Warsaw-Babice airfield with military participants in the upcoming parade for Polish Army Day, President Duda said: «In a year’s time, perhaps there will also be a parade, but in any case there will be a change of power.» Based on this quote, the authors of the «BelVPO» telegram channel came to the following conclusion: «The uncertainty in the words about the possibility of holding a parade next year can be regarded in different ways: either as a political ploy of PiS, or a hint of war.
Operation Eastern Dawn and participation in the war in Ukraine
One of the pro-government Telegram channels reacted to the news that Ukraine is going to discuss with neighboring countries the possibility of using their aircraft to defeat Russian missiles and drones in Ukrainian airspace in the following way: «It is not difficult to guess that we are talking about Poland, which itself does not mind interfering in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict to realize its ambitious intentions. We would like to remind you that since August 1, the «hyena» of Europe has been conducting an air operation on the border with Ukraine».
This refers to Operation Eastern Dawn, which began on August 1 and also involves contingents from the United States, Great Britain and Italy. The purpose of the operation is to strengthen Poland’s air defense system in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which has increased the risk of violations of Polish airspace. In this connection it was stated: «In fact, Warsaw is moving to the last phase of its initiative to shoot down Russian missiles in the skies of Ukraine. Officially, this is being done to prevent missiles from accidentally flying into Poland, but in fact it is creating a no-fly zone in western Ukraine».
Migration crisis
On the topic of migrants on the border with Belarus on August 11, one of the pro-government Telegram channels reported: «They distribute videos, where it is seen that people in Polish camouflage seem to shoot at other people who look like migrants.
NATO
War in Ukraine
The «BelVPO» Telegram channel reposted an article about the Olympics in Paris from the «Own Correspondent» channel. The authors emphasize the following: «NATO countries are enthusiastically sending hundreds of long-range missiles to Ukraine. The very ones that then explode in residential neighborhoods in Gorlovka, Sevastopol, Belgorod, Donetsk, Luhansk…. How can we not recall the Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse), which mentions the Antichrist, who seduces people with permissiveness and impunity!».
The same Telegram channel reposted an article about possible Russian-Ukrainian peace talks and the situation in Kursk region from the Ponomar channel. The article concluded, «Although the US and EU support for Ukraine does not at first glance produce tangible fruits for Ukraine’s victory, in the meantime NATO is expanding, increasing its resources and increasing its importance. That is, the main goal for NATO is not to win Ukraine, but to strengthen and cement the bloc.»
The review is available in Russian.
