Creator( )Jakub Dutkiewicz
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An explosion on a railway line near the village of Mika on Sunday night damaged part of the line carrying aid supplies to Ukraine. Polish government officials called the incident an act of deliberate sabotage.
According to the initial results of the investigation and an announcement by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, “all the facts point to Russian traces.”
Res Futura Data House, a European research, analysis and advisory body, conducted an analysis of more than 14,000 online statements about track damage and found that as many as 42% of those posting blamed Ukrainians for the sabotage.
Tusk said Tuesday that two Ukrainians who work for Russia and are known to Polish authorities are suspected in the train bombing.
“The most comments suggest that people of Ukrainian descent are behind the incidents. These indicators are often based on past events, such as fires at Polish facilities, vandalism, or the presence of Ukrainians near strategic infrastructure. It is often hypothesized that these actions are retaliatory or provocative and aimed at drawing Poland into a direct conflict with Russia,” Les Futura wrote in a post on X.
Only 24% of statements blamed the Russians for the attack, while 19% of comments blamed services associated with the Polish state.
According to Res Futura, the prevalence of these false claims can be linked to a decline in the effectiveness of the Bureau of Internal Security (ABW).
While presenting the latest information to Congress, Tusk warned against the spread of anti-Ukrainian sentiment and disinformation online.
“As more and more Polish citizens bear the burden of the fact that they are hosting so many refugees and migrants, it is becoming increasingly easier to stir up anti-Ukrainian anger for known reasons,” he said.
“From the point of view of Russian interests, the awakening of deep anti-Ukrainian sentiments, the kind of disinformation that Ukrainian drones are attacking Poland or that Ukrainians are blowing up trains, are doubly valuable to Russian services.”
The prime minister also said it was in Russia’s interest to divide the West and distract 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 asserted solidarity with Ukraine and emphasized that it is in Russia’s interest to spread disinformation and anti-Ukrainian rhetoric in Poland.
“Some people, especially on the right, have never joined the Union in spirit, but for them the Union is still ‘them’ to some,” he wrote.
“Those who blame Ukraine for Russia’s actions in Poland are political subversives…Russia is fueling such sentiments and spending billions of dollars on disinformation and propaganda. Russia wants to turn a section of public opinion against its neighbors, against the EU, and against refugees from Ukraine who have fled to Poland from Russian bombs.”
Despite appeals from those in power, statements by Polish public figures are increasingly anti-Ukrainian, accusing Ukrainians of vandalism and divisiveness, and falsely suggesting that they serve the interests of the Kiev government.
Grzegorz Braun, a member of the European Parliament and leader of the far-right Polish Royal League, called the explosion “another anti-Polish provocation that warmongers are trying to use to increase tensions” in a post on X.
“It turns out that saboteurs traditionally turn out to be Ukrainian nationals,” Roman Fritz, vice-president of the Union of Polish Crowns, said in X, while former Prime Minister Leszek Miller hypothesized online that Ukrainian nationals were very often behind acts of vandalism and that “no one has more practical experience than Ukrainians in detecting, analyzing and organizing explosions on railway tracks.”
Mr. Miller provided no examples to support his claim.
Meanwhile, Sławomir Mentzen, leader of the far-right League, currently Poland’s third largest political force, has linked Russian intelligence to the migration of Ukrainian nationals to Poland.
“They let into the country a Ukrainian who was convicted of sabotage there and who blew up railroad tracks in Poland. We can’t let everyone into the country. Poland must vet those who want to come to us!” he posted.
The Ministry of Digitalization warned on its website against false information about the railway explosion and urged the public to be especially careful about reports published online and to verify information.
“A disinformation campaign carried out in the Russian and Polish intelligence spheres has been confirmed since Sunday. The aim is to shift the blame for the sabotage of Polish railway lines onto the Ukrainian side and to discredit the actions of the Polish authorities responsible for security,” the ministry said.