False Claims About Ukrainian Food Contamination Spread on Polish Social Media

Anti-Ukrainian Disinformation Campaign Targets Polish Consumers with False Food Safety Claims

Polish social media has become the battleground for a new wave of anti-Ukrainian disinformation, with fabricated claims about “dangerous products from Ukraine” circulating widely on Facebook, according to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD).

The CCD, operating under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, has identified a coordinated effort to manipulate Polish consumers through posts urging them to boycott any products bearing the code 482—the standard European Article Number (EAN) barcode prefix assigned to goods manufactured in Ukraine.

These misleading posts falsely claim that “all Ukrainian products are contaminated,” attempting to create a blanket distrust of Ukrainian imports regardless of their actual safety record or quality standards. Screenshots shared by the CCD show examples of these posts gaining traction in Polish-language Facebook groups.

“Such fakes feed on real cases where certain batches of products—not necessarily from Ukraine—fail to meet quality standards,” the CCD explained in its statement. “But propagandists deliberately generalize isolated incidents to create a false impression of the ‘total danger’ of Ukrainian goods.”

The disinformation tactic exploits Poland’s robust consumer protection system, where authorities regularly publish warnings about specific products that fail safety inspections. These legitimate notifications apply to goods from any country of origin, but the disinformation campaign selectively focuses on Ukrainian cases while ignoring similar issues with products from other nations.

Food safety experts note that product recalls and quality concerns are common across all markets and manufacturing regions. The European Union’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) regularly flags products from various countries, including EU member states, for potential safety issues.

This targeted campaign comes amid already strained Polish-Ukrainian relations over agricultural issues. Polish farmers have previously protested the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products following the lifting of some EU import restrictions after Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. The disinformation appears designed to exploit these existing tensions.

The CCD identifies the barcode manipulation as part of a broader anti-Ukrainian campaign that has intensified in Poland since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The agency believes the campaign aims to “undermine trust between Ukrainians and Poles, sow hostility between the two nations, and increase pressure on Warsaw’s political decisions regarding support for Ukraine.”

“This fully aligns with the goals of the Kremlin’s information policy in Poland,” the CCD statement concluded, suggesting Russian involvement in the coordinated spread of these narratives.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters since the Russian invasion, providing significant military aid and hosting over a million Ukrainian refugees. However, bilateral relations have faced challenges over historical issues, economic concerns, and competing priorities.

Media monitoring organizations have documented a significant increase in anti-Ukrainian content across Central European social media platforms since 2022, with narratives often mirroring Russian state media talking points. These campaigns frequently target countries like Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary that share borders with Ukraine.

The CCD’s report comes as Ukraine continues to battle multiple Russian disinformation campaigns across various fronts. Earlier reports documented Russian efforts to push narratives of Ukraine’s “inevitable defeat” as part of its psychological warfare strategy.

In a potentially related incident mentioned by the CCD, a church in Sweden recently warned against cooperation with Belarusian nuns due to their alleged ties to Russian foreign intelligence and the Moscow Patriarchate, further highlighting the broad scope of information operations targeting Ukraine’s international partnerships.