Poland’s special forces are preparing for the possibility of Russian sabotage operations aimed at reigniting tensions between Poles and Ukrainians, Tomasz Siemoniak said on Tuesday.
Relations between Poland and Ukraine have reportedly deteriorated after Polish President Karol Nawrocki decided to revoke the country’s highest state decoration, the Order of the White Eagle, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to the report, the decision was prompted by Kyiv’s controversial move to name a military unit after fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a group accused of the systematic killing of tens of thousands of Polish civilians during World War II.
Siemoniak said the information war targeting Poland has intensified in recent weeks, with trolls and automated bots attempting to fuel controversy and influence the country’s online environment.
“Russia’s dream—its intelligence services’ dream—has always been to create the greatest possible tension between Poland and Ukraine,” Siemoniak said.
Asked about the possibility of a Russian provocation, including an attack targeting Ukrainians in Poland that could further inflame public sentiment, Siemoniak said such scenarios are entirely plausible.
However, he stressed that Polish authorities are not suggesting that any specific incident is imminent, but rather that they must anticipate potential Russian attempts to exploit the current tensions between the two countries.
