Poland
Military propaganda resources continue to actively cover Polish topics. In June, most attention was paid to the migration crisis. In addition, the topics of the army, the “Volyn Massacre” and others were raised.
Migration crisis on the border with Belarus
One of the most popular topics was the situation with migrants (refugees) on the Belarus-Poland border. The migration topic was heard in various contexts.
For example, the issue of issuing combat weapons to Polish soldiers guarding the border. The very idea provoked a negative reaction from propagandists, as the use of weapons to fight migrants will inevitably lead to human casualties: “Bloodshed is not a solution. And everyone knows very well that the Polish military has been radically solving the migrant issue for a long time.
… It is frightening to imagine what kind of bloodbath they will organize if they get weapons.” It should be noted that the red thread running through all publications is the thesis that Poland is to blame for the migration crisis. Belarus has nothing to do with it.
It is notable that the propagandists saw in the decision to provide policemen serving on the Belarusian-Polish border with personal weapons the risk of … an attack on a sovereign state: “I wonder what they will say if in ‘counteraction’ to migrants a Polish bullet hits a person (God forbid, a Belarusian border guard) on the Belarusian territory? This would already smell of an armed attack on a sovereign state.”
In the context of the use of weapons, the reaction to the detention by the military police of three soldiers “who used weapons against a group of Middle Eastern migrants trying to get to Poland” was remarkable. The prosecutor’s office accused them of exceeding their authority and endangering the lives of others. And Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that “detaining soldiers firing signal shots at attacking migrants is unacceptable.” In response to the situation, propagandists accused Polish politicians of protecting criminals: “It is obvious that the head of the Defense Ministry is protecting his criminals, and his public statements are just a screen for this. Who, if not Polish border guards kill, throw out exhausted women and children, do not allow medics to migrants at the border …. It is high time to detain and interrogate all those involved!” Once again, the entire responsibility for the migration crisis is shifted exclusively to the Polish side.
In response to the information about the detention of servicemen, the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość party, which is in opposition to the current government, “is considering a vote of no confidence in Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz.” The reaction of the propaganda was sharp: “Instead of solving the issues on the border with migrants and teaching their soldiers to respect and value people’s lives, Polish politicians use any dirty methods to regain and retain power, blaming each other.”
A proven technique was used to cover the topic — a collection of critical comments on social media, and passing them off as “no-nonsense passions.” Summarizing the analysis of the comments, the propagandists stated that “With such a government, there is no need for enemies, so Poles should spend money not on militarization, but on restoring order inside the country.”
The reaction to the death of a Polish soldier wounded on the Belarusian-Polish border at the end of May deserves special attention in the context of the migration crisis. In response to the news that the serviceman died of his wounds on June 6, propaganda resources said the following: “The military department only expressed condolences to the relatives of the deceased Pole, and the country’s President Duda ordered the convening of the National Security Council because of the death of the serviceman. It seems that the Warsaw regime was waiting for the death of a serviceman an excuse to aggravate the already difficult situation on the Polish-Belarusian border”.
It is notable that a series of publications were devoted to justifying why the death of a Polish serviceman was PSYOP. Based on their “analysis”, the propagandists concluded that “the Warsaw regime wants to use this situation, first, to justify its military, which unauthorizedly used weapons (Polish society is already ready to raise such ‘defenders’ who kill women and children to the pitchforks) and, second, to untie the military’s hands, where they can shoot refugees to kill.” The propagandists used as one of their arguments the fact that the name of the dead serviceman was not mentioned. At the same time, open sources have the name and surname of the deceased serviceman.
Propaganda resources also spread various versions of the tragedy. For example, that the serviceman committed suicide or died at the hands of his fellow servicemen: “Given the moral state of the Polish security forces, it is possible that this young man could have killed himself or become a victim of conflict and stabbing within the team”. Stories published in social media about allegedly other deaths of Polish soldiers were also cited. And that such situations are carefully concealed by the command.
Through publications about PSYOP with the death of a Polish soldier, the narrative that the situation on the border is “solvable” was again pursued. But all the problems lie on the Polish side: “The most remarkable thing is that the situation on the border is quite solvable. A. Lukashenka has mentioned it many times. But the Polish authorities do not want to go to dialogue! They preferred the policy of demonizing Minsk instead of establishing full-fledged cooperation and dialogue.” In addition, the Polish commanders were attributed blood and responsibility for the deaths not only of migrants, but also of their own soldiers: “In any case, may the earth rest on his soul. And to the Polish commanders, on whose hands the blood of not only disadvantaged migrants, but also of their own soldiers, may they burn in hell.”
The propagandists did not ignore the demand of the Polish Foreign Ministry to extradite the migrant involved in the death of the soldier. It was reported that the State Border Committee of Belarus was ready to conduct both unilateral and bilateral investigation of the incident in case of obtaining specific information about the circumstances of the tragedy. And this (according to propagandists) is another confirmation that Belarus is ready to cooperate in migration issues with the Polish authorities: “As it seems, Belarus is ready to cooperate to solve certain issues, which cannot be said about Poland, which has ruined and raped many lives of migrants for 3 years of migration crisis and has not conducted a single investigation.” Again, it is emphasized that all the problems at the border come from the Polish authorities. And in general, “the Warsaw regime continues to kill, oppress and rape those eager to get to Europe, flouting the norms of human rights and laws.”
The death of a Polish soldier at the border led to changes in certain national security legal frameworks. Propaganda resources saw in this the use of the tragedy for the implementation of Poland’s militaristic plans: “Thus, the topic of the alleged murder of a Polish soldier on the Polish border became a hybrid occasion for Warsaw to realize its militaristic plans with regard to the Union State and to demonstrate its superiority over the EU laws on non-compliance with migration policy.”
In the end, the propagandists predict an escalation of the situation on the border: “In response, the Polish puppet regime began to use special forces, which will inevitably lead to more violence against migrants. Obviously, this model of governance will not solve the problem. European policy in this case (as always) does not demonstrate adequate solutions.”
Another story in the topic of the migration crisis was the involvement of Polish military personnel in the smuggling of migrants across the border. For example, one of the channels published an alleged video of Polish military officers letting migrants into the territory of Poland for money. It was noted that “in the profile telegram chats of migrants say that the commercial offer of representatives of the Polish Army is many times less than that of the same border guards”. However, the video does not contain any information that would unambiguously confirm that migrants are allowed to cross the border for money. The actions in the video were probably simply taken out of context.
Polish army
Traditionally, propaganda resources “shone a spotlight” on problematic issues of Polish security forces. For example, outdated equipment. From time to time, the propagandists’ attention is drawn to steel helmets: “Yes, the ‘high-tech’ NATO army still wears steel helmets from the Soviet Union. The picture is clearly not for Polish military propaganda.” It is noteworthy that, for example, the great share of Belarusian military actively use steel helmets from the 1960s.
Another subject was the stay of the Polish military on the Belarusian-Polish border. For example, a soldier of the territorial defense troops of Poland told the media that Polish soldiers had a very low level of training; the military did not want to participate in activities on the border; the command of the Polish group did not know the laws just as well as the soldiers. And in this the propagandist saw the reasons for the migrants on the border: “Absolute bacchanalia, untrained personnel, lawlessness, total prohibition of the presence of independent media and human rights defenders in the region.”
In addition, the lack of normal living conditions for servicemen performing tasks on the border was also reflected. Thus, the military have to build huts for themselves out of branches and garbage. The propagandists connected the existence of domestic problems with the military and technical assistance provided by Poland to Ukraine: “Despite its membership in NATO, the Polish army has two sides: ostensible and real. The Polish government has given Ukraine over $9 billion in aid, while their own soldiers are forced to live in garbage sheds”.
It is impossible not to pay attention to the program “Vacations with the Army”, which is aimed at attracting citizens to serve in the army. However, the propaganda saw it as recruitment of “cannon fodder” into the army: “All this shows the militaristic attitude of Poland, which by any means and by any means tries, under the guise of ‘voluntary’ service, to recruit as much ‘cannon fodder’ into the Polish Army as possible to participate in its dirty political games.”
Among the stories related to the army, “patriotic education” can be highlighted. For example, every weekend the Polish military organizes military picnics. Propaganda perceives such events as a tool for inculcating the ideology of fascism in children: “At such picnics one can see how the Nazi regime is honored, inculcating the ideology of fascism from childhood. The number of militaristic activities involving children is off the charts. But for the fugitives it’s different, they are ready to wear fascist uniforms and even involve their children in this, if they are paid.”
Incidents that happened in the Polish army were traditionally covered. For example, it was reported about the death of a serviceman of one of the units due to a long illness. However, propagandists question the official version: “And if this is true, then the question arises: why conscript a person who is terminally ill at all? So far it looks like ridiculous excuses.”
The propagandists also covered an incident involving a soldier of the 12th Mechanized Division who was injured while working with an anti-aircraft system on a training ground. The propagandists claimed that the number of accidents in the army is so high that the Polish
Defense Ministry’s hotlines are “literally bursting”: “According to our information, the Polish Defense Ministry’s hotlines are literally bursting with calls from worried relatives of soldiers. The leadership has made a rather strange decision not to answer them. We tried to call them several times, but we heard nothing but long beeps. We tried to call and find out information from other military departments, but the situation was repeated. It is probably easier for the leadership of the Polish army to bury their heads in the sand than to answer for their negligence.”
“The Volyn Massacre”
In the Polish village of Domostaw, Podkarpackie voivodeship, a 15-meter monument to Poles killed in the “Volyn Massacre” was erected. The construction of the monument was financed by donations collected both in Poland and among Polish diasporas. It was noted that earlier attempts to erect such a monument in other cities ended in failure, as “local authorities were afraid of aggravation of relations with official Kiev and Ukrainian nationalists.” But “political games and even time proved to be beyond the control of the Polish people’s memory of those terrible events.”
Traditionally, to cover the topic of the “Volyn massacre” propagandists draw parallels between the killing of civilians during World War II and the war in Ukraine. According to the propagandists, “In order to frighten the population in the settlements where the national battalions visited, they found pits with severed fingers, limbs, mutilated bodies, and all ages. The Nazis of the Bandera variety continue to reap a bloody harvest.”
In general, propagandists actively use controversial themes of the historical past to contrast Poles and Ukrainians.
NATO
Against the background of the Polish agenda, there were fewer publications devoted to NATO. The topics included the name of the new Secretary General of the alliance and the authorization to use weapons supplied to Ukraine for strikes against Russia.
We can highlight the reaction of propagandists to the candidacy of the new NATO Secretary General — Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte. Having analyzed the biography of the politician, the propagandists made their verdict: “So, the new NATO Secretary General is a true citizen of the new Europe and a ‘mirror’ of the West. I.e. a representative of LGBT, a Russophobe and a liberal.”
Rather painfully, propagandists continued to react to the authorization to use weapons supplied to Ukraine for strikes against military facilities in Russia. Thus, “The governments and politicians of these countries are profiting from the military conflict and rubbing their hands in the hope that Russia will be defeated.” And on the other hand, “Naive fools have lost touch with reality and do not realize that by adding oil to the fire of geopolitical instability, they are trapping themselves. After all, sooner or later relations with Russia will have to be repaired.” In general, “By allowing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to hit Russia, the West has actually moved from the stage of proxy war to direct participation in the conflict with Russia.”
