A Russian-linked disinformation network, Matryoshka, is spreading fake social media posts to exploit recent historical grievances between Poland and Ukraine. The campaign aims to sow discord by falsely accusing Ukrainian elites of Nazism and fabricating claims about Polish mercenaries.
This disinformation campaign highlights Russia's ongoing efforts to destabilize Ukraine's alliances by exploiting historical sensitivities and fabricating narratives, potentially weakening crucial support for Ukraine amidst its conflict with Russia.
A Russian-linked disinformation operation is actively seeking to exploit recent historical grievances and create a rift between Poland and Ukraine, according to the Kyiv Independent.
The Matryoshka bot network has been running fake social media posts that leverage the dispute over a Ukrainian military unit being granted a title honoring the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). This incident has led to the most serious crisis between the two neighboring countries in years.
Fake posts detected by the Antibot4Navalny monitoring group falsely present the dispute as a result of rampant 'Nazism' within Ukrainian elites and the public, echoing established Russian propaganda talking points. One fabricated post falsely claims that Piotr Cywinski, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, called for barring President Zelensky from Holocaust commemoration events.
Further fabricated claims extend accusations of 'Nazism' to Ukraine's international partners. A video falsely suggests that Estonian officials are returning Polish state awards in solidarity and that an Estonian Member of the European Parliament invited Zelensky to an 'SS veterans gathering.'
Some disinformation pieces go beyond historical grievances, with one post falsely alleging that Polish 'mercenaries'—a term Russia uses for foreign fighters in Ukraine—are being killed by their Ukrainian counterparts, who allegedly view the Polish nation as 'slaves.'
These fake posts often mimic established media outlets like Euronews and Der Spiegel, and organizations such as the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), by using their logos alongside unrelated stock footage and overlaid text, a common tactic of the Matryoshka network. While some posts averaged around 30,000 views on X, Antibot4Navalny notes that Matryoshka frequently inflates view counts, making actual reach difficult to ascertain.
This campaign is not an isolated incident; similar Russian disinformation efforts have been observed during disputes between Ukraine and Israel over grain shipments and in the lead-up to Hungary's parliamentary elections. Officials in both Poland and Ukraine have warned that Russia would attempt to exploit the current dispute to drive a wedge between the two nations.
Warsaw and Kyiv have been close allies since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Poland hosting approximately 2 million Ukrainian refugees and serving as a crucial logistical hub for Western arms. However, the two countries share a complex and painful history, which has periodically strained their bilateral relations. The current dispute centers on the historical role of the UPA, remembered in Ukraine for its resistance against Soviet occupation, but primarily recalled in Poland for its role in the 1943-1945 Volyn massacres.