Poland’s PM Tusk Warns of Russian Disinformation Campaigns Targeting Ukraine

Poland Investigates Railway Explosion as Suspected Russian Sabotage

An explosion that damaged a railway track near the village of Mika on Sunday night has triggered a national security investigation in Poland, with senior government officials labeling it a deliberate act of sabotage. The damaged line serves as a critical transport route for aid shipments into Ukraine.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Tuesday that preliminary findings point to Russian involvement. “All facts point to a Russian trace,” Tusk stated, adding that two Ukrainian citizens working for Russia and already known to Polish authorities are the primary suspects in the attack.

The incident has sparked a wave of misinformation across Polish social media platforms. According to an analysis by European research collective Res Futura Data House, which examined more than 14,000 online statements related to the explosion, 42% of posts incorrectly blamed Ukrainians for the sabotage, while only 24% attributed responsibility to Russia. Another 19% of comments suggested Polish state services were involved.

“The largest number of comments suggest that people of Ukrainian origin are behind the incident,” Res Futura reported in a statement posted to X. “These indications are often based on previous events, such as fires at facilities in Poland, vandalism or the presence of Ukrainians near strategic infrastructure.”

During a parliamentary briefing, Tusk warned against the growing tide of anti-Ukrainian sentiment and disinformation circulating 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.

Tusk emphasized that stoking anti-Ukrainian sentiment serves Russian interests by creating divisions within Poland and weakening international support for Ukraine. “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.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski reinforced this message, calling those who blame Ukraine for Russia’s actions “political saboteurs.” In a post on X, Sikorski wrote: “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 these appeals from government leaders, anti-Ukrainian rhetoric has gained traction among certain political figures in Poland. Grzegorz Braun, a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the far-right Polish Crown Confederation, described the explosion as “another anti-Polish provocation” being used by “warmongers” to escalate tensions.

Roman Fritz, vice-president of the same political group, suggested on X that “the saboteurs turned out to be traditionally Ukrainian citizens,” while former Prime Minister Leszek Miller claimed, without evidence, that “no one has more practical experience in detecting, analysing and organising explosions on railway tracks than Ukrainians.”

Sławomir Mentzen, leader of the Confederation, currently Poland’s third-largest political force, attempted to connect Russian intelligence activities with Ukrainian migration 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.

In response to the spread of misinformation, Poland’s Ministry of Digitalisation issued a warning on its website, urging citizens to verify information carefully. “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 stated.

The railway incident comes at a sensitive time for Polish-Ukrainian relations, which have remained largely supportive since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, though occasionally strained by historical disputes and economic tensions.