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Poland will capture its “historical provinces” in Ukraine, taking advantage of Ukraine’s position of weakness, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence, Sergey Naryshkin says. Amplified by the Russian media, the narrative lacks any substance and is disproved by the actions and declarations of Poland in support of Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity.
NEWS: “The foreign intelligence service has obtained information about the joint plans of Warsaw and Washington to place Poland’s “historical provinces in Ukraine” under the former’s military and political control, the director of Russian foreign intelligence, Sergey Naryshkin has said.
He explained this is an attempt to restore the historical “deal” for Poland at the end of the World War I, when the global powers, represented by the Entente, recognized Warsaw’s right to occupy part of Ukraine in order to defend these lands against “the Bolshevik threat”, and to subsequently include these territories into the structure of the Polish state.
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The first stage in the “reunification” process will mark the entry of the Polish army in western Ukraine, under the pretext of “defending against Russian aggression”. Right now, the authorities are discussing with the US presidential administration the specifics of this mission.
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According to information obtained by foreign intelligence, Poland is now looking for representatives of the Ukrainian elites who would agree to collaborate with Warsaw in order to set up an alternative “democratic” group to fight the nationalists. Warsaw believes this move will trigger the inevitable collapse of Ukraine, whereas Poland will get its hands of the provinces seized by its “peacekeepers”, Naryshkin went on to say”.
NARRATIVES: 1. Poland will occupy some provinces in western Ukraine, contributing to the collapse of this country. 2 (implicit) Ukraine is a weak state that will collapse.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Of Ukraine’s neighbors, Poland has been the most vocal and active in terms of combating Russian aggression and supporting Kyiv’s defensive efforts. Warsaw has proved through concrete action that it is a genuine supporter of Ukraine: it condemned the Russian aggression, provided assistance to the Ukrainian army, facilitated Kyiv’s institutional rapprochement to European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Poland is one of the staunchest advocates of EU sanctions against Moscow. At the same time, Poland agreed to serve as the main route for Western shipments of weapons to Ukraine.
Over 3 million Ukrainian refugees have reached Poland since the start of the Russia’s war against Ukraine, some 80,000 of whom have now become active on the labor market. Poland’s trust in Ukraine has peaked recently, in light of Warsaw’s vehement anti-Russian stance.
The Polish authorities have introduced sanctions against Russia after February 24, and have called on the EU and NATO to provide Ukraine with heavy weapons. Warsaw has expressed its willingness to host nuclear weapons on its territory.
Poland was the first state to be disconnected from Russian gas, after refusing to pay for gas delivers in rubles. Moreover, Poland wants countries that pay rubles for their gas deliveries to be sanctioned by Brussels, with a view to shattering the Kremlin’s plans to undermine Western solidarity. The war propaganda promoted by Naryshkin in Russian-speaking space surfaced shortly after Russia cut gas supplies to Poland.
In fact, Warsaw’s actions are not determined by its willingness to acquire Ukrainian territories (which would be a breach of its EU and NATO status and obligations), but by the fear it could be Moscow’s next target. According to a sociological survey, 74% of Poles believe Russia might attack Poland in the near future.
The idea promoted by Russian propaganda, claiming that Poland is allegedly taking advantage of Ukraine’s weakness to occupy certain regions in Western Ukraine, is nothing short of illogical – if it really wanted Ukraine to be weak, Warsaw would not provide Kyiv with so much support. Poland has delivered to Ukraine weapons worth 1.6 billion dollars (1,5 billion Euro) to help this country fend off the Russian invasion. In the first days of the war, Warsaw transferred funds to Ukraine, also signing a memorandum of inter-banking assistance.
The propaganda narrative was launched by the director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, who grounds his arguments on the historical events of World War I, instead of the concrete evidence of present-day reality. In fact, this false prediction made by Russia is a carryover of the metanarrative stating that Ukraine is a false state that will collapse, a piece of disinformation that Veridica has debunked systematically over 2021-2022.
The purpose of this narrative is to tell Russian audiences back home that “the special military operation” is necessary, and that in the near future more states will get involved in partitioning Ukraine.
Apart from that, the truth about the United States’ involvement in the Ukrainian crisis is also distorted. Instead of specifying Washington is arming and supporting Ukraine in order to preserve the territorial integrity of this state and put a stop to Russia’s aggression, the Russian foreign intelligence chief claims, without providing any evidence, that Poland will take control over “its historical provinces” in Ukraine with the help of the USA.
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