The scale of disinformation about the war in Ukraine, Polish-Ukrainian relations and refugees continues to grow in Poland’s media environment year after year — a trend mirrored across the European Union. Social media posts, particularly on the platform X, play a leading role in spreading false narratives. During the opening of the “Ukraine in Focus” exhibition, media representatives emphasized the need for international cooperation to counter anti-Ukrainian propaganda originating from Russia. The European Parliament also sees a role for itself in this effort.
“We see it clearly on our accounts and in our monitoring systems: every time the European Parliament takes a position on Ukraine, we observe a wave of disinformation aimed at distorting our decisions and statements to give them a completely different meaning. And we are just one of many institutions supporting Ukraine. We are flooded with massive amounts of anti-Ukrainian disinformation, including here in Poland. It is a huge problem and a major challenge for the whole of Europe — and for Ukraine itself,” said Raffaella De Marte, Head of the Decentralised Media Unit at the European Parliament, in an interview with Newseria.
According to findings by the regional network of EU journalists working on disinformation resilience — in cooperation with the EU-funded DARE project (Disinformation Awareness and Resilience) — Russian propagandists in the Ukrainian information space spent June to August this year attacking Polish-Ukrainian relations, accusing the EU of prolonging the war or pursuing an aggressive policy toward Russia. Analysts also detected false claims about alleged plans to divide Ukraine between Russia, the United States and EU member states.
“The closer a country is to Ukraine, the greater the scale of disinformation. And the more a country supports Ukraine, the more disinformation it receives. Poland belongs to both groups,” said Natalia Kostina, Deputy Director General of Ukraine’s National News Agency, Ukrinform.
The number of posts attacking Ukraine and insulting Ukrainians in Poland’s online sphere is rising every year. According to data from the Demagog Association and IMM, there were nearly 289,000 such posts in 2023, close to 327,000 in 2024, and more than 94,000 between April and July 2025 alone.
“In recent years, Poland has been overwhelmed with misleading information related to the war in Ukraine, but also the migration crisis accompanying it,” said Patryk Zakrzewski, Vice President and Director of Education at the Demagog Association. “Early narratives focused mainly on the war itself or Ukrainian refugees crossing into Poland. Today, the misinformation increasingly targets Polish-Ukrainian relations inside Poland and current domestic issues.”
The report shows that between April and July this year, the volume and reach of posts echoing Kremlin narratives spiked during politically sensitive moments, including ahead of the presidential elections. In May and June, a disinformation campaign intensified to stoke anti-Ukrainian sentiment before the vote, with social media posts accusing Polish politicians of being “submissive to Ukrainians.”
“In our reports we analyze anti-Ukrainian propaganda narratives and are able to identify, through social media analysis, who is behind the disinformation. Unfortunately, many of these messages come from our own representatives in the European Parliament and the Polish Sejm — particularly those affiliated with right-wing and far-right parties,” Zakrzewski noted. “At the same time, there are numerous anonymous accounts with enormous reach spreading misleading, anti-Ukrainian content. In their case, we still have no clarity about who is behind them — which remains one of the biggest challenges.”
Analysts from Demagog and IMM warn that anti-Ukrainian propaganda and related disinformation fuel tensions between Poles and Ukrainians. According to a January CBOS survey on attitudes toward other nationalities, positive sentiment toward Ukrainians fell from 40% to 30% compared with 2024. Meanwhile, negative sentiment increased to 38% — an 8-point rise.
These issues were discussed during the opening of the “Ukraine in Focus” photography exhibition at the European Parliament Office in Warsaw. Panelists stressed the role of the media in combating disinformation and urged joint international efforts to address the problem.
“We need a wall of societal resistance. It must involve European institutions, national governments, the media and stronger, more resilient civil societies. The job of European institutions is to create the right regulations — and we are doing that through frameworks like the Digital Services Act, the Artificial Intelligence Act and rules on political advertising. That is our main role. We also provide training for journalists, fact-checkers, students and teachers to raise awareness. We are trying to build a community capable of responding to and countering disinformation,” said Raffaella De Marte.
“A lot is already being done to limit disinformation. On one hand, we have legal and institutional actions at the EU level intended to push social-media platforms to respond more effectively. With mixed results — as we can see on platform X, where, unfortunately, the effect is the opposite: the amount of disinformation continues to rise,” Zakrzewski added.
According to the IMM and Demagog report, platform X accounted for 86.7 thousand anti-Ukrainian posts between April and July this year — a staggering 92.2% of all such posts identified across Polish social media. Last year, X hosted 277,000 such posts (84.7%), and in 2023 — 238,000 (82.4%).
“I believe Polish and Ukrainian fact-checkers and journalists can work together so that people in Poland see the situation as clearly as those in Ukraine do. We must learn who in politics — and among anonymous actors — benefits from this propaganda, who is paid for it. Once this becomes transparent, we will be closer to a solution. This is one of the responsibilities now facing journalists and fact-checkers. I intend to contribute to this effort,” said the head of the foreign desk at Ukrinform. “Ukraine has extensive expertise in countering disinformation — some of the highest awareness in Europe. European institutions can support this work by funding experts in the field.”
“Education is invaluable — though it brings long-term results, and we must be patient. Demagog plays an important role both in legislative consultations and educational efforts, and we do everything we can to counter disinformation on multiple fronts,” Zakrzewski concluded.
