By Jakub Dutkiewicz
Published on
An explosion on a railway track near the village of Mika on Sunday night that damaged part of the line that carries aid into Ukraine. An incident senior figures in the Polish government called a deliberate act of sabotage.
According to the first findings of the investigation and as announced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, “All facts point to a Russian trace.”
The European research, analytics and advisory collective Res Futura Data House conducted an analysis of more than 14,000 online statements relating to the track damage and found as many as 42% of the people posting blamed Ukrainians for the sabotage.
Tusk said on Tuesday that two Ukrainian citizens working for Russia and known to Polish authorities are suspected of blowing up the railway line.
“The largest number of comments suggest that people of Ukrainian origin are behind the incident. These indications are often based on previous events, such as fires at facilities in Poland, vandalism or the presence of Ukrainians near strategic infrastructure. It is often hypothesised that these actions were retaliatory or provocative, allegedly to draw Poland into a direct conflict with Russia,” Res Futura wrote in a post on X.
Only 24% of the statements blamed Russians for the attack while 19% of the comments put the blame on services linked to the Polish state.
According to Res Futura, the proliferation of these false claims may be linked to a decline in the effectiveness of the country’s Internal Security Agency (ABW).
While presenting the latest information to parliament, Tusk warned against the spread of anti-Ukrainian sentiment and disinformation online.
“It is becoming increasingly easy to whip up anti-Ukrainian resentments for known reasons, as more and more Polish citizens are carrying the burden of the fact that we are hosting such a large number of refugees and migrants,” he said.
“From the point of view of Russian interests, the awakening of radically anti-Ukrainian emotions, disinformation of the type that Ukrainian drones are attacking Poland or that Ukrainians are blowing up trains, have a double value for Russian services.”
The prime minister also said that it is in Russia’s interest to divide the West and divert it from the needs of Ukraine, which is much weaker without international support.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski also published a post on X, in which he advocated solidarity with Ukraine and highlighted the benefits to Russia of spreading disinformation and anti-Ukrainian narratives in Poland.
“Some people, especially on the right, have never mentally entered the Union and the Union is still some ‘them’ for them,” he wrote.
“Those who blame Ukraine for Russia’s actions in Poland are political saboteurs…Russia spends billions on fuelling such sentiments, on disinformation and propaganda. It wants to set a part of public opinion against our neighbours, against the EU and against refugees from Ukraine who have fled to Poland from Russian bombs.”
Despite appeals from those in power, anti-Ukrainian content is increasingly appearing in the statements of public figures in Poland, blaming the Ukrainians for acts of sabotage and division and falsely suggesting that they are in the interests of the government in Kyiv.
Member of the European Parliament and leader of the far-right Polish Crown Confederation Grzegorz Braun, called the explosion “another anti-Polish provocation” which “warmongers are trying to use to escalate tensions” in a post on X.
Roman Fritz, vice-president of the Polish Crown Confederation, said on X that “the saboteurs turned out to be traditionally Ukrainian citizens,” while former Prime Minister Leszek Miller hypothesised online that Ukrainian citizens are very often behind acts of sabotage and that “no one has more practical experience in detecting, analysing and organising explosions on railway tracks than Ukrainians.”
Miller did not provide any examples to support his claims.
On the other hand, the leader of the far-right Confederation, currently the third political force in Poland, Sławomir Mentzen linked Russian intelligence activities with the migration of Ukrainian citizens to Poland.
“They let in a Ukrainian who had been convicted of sabotage there and who has now blown up tracks in Poland. We cannot let everyone in. Poland must vet people who want to come to us!” he posted.
The Ministry of Digitalisation warned on its website against disinformation about the rail explosion and urged people to be extra cautious about reports appearing online and try to verify information.
“Disinformation activity conducted in the Russian and Polish infosphere has been identified since Sunday. It is intended to redirect responsibility for the sabotage of the Polish railway lines to the Ukrainian side and to discredit the actions taken by the Polish services responsible for security,” the ministry said.
