Fake from Poland: 'Ukrainian' calls on Poles to go to war with Russia

Fake from Poland: 'Ukrainian' calls on Poles to go to war with Russia

Fact Check
Ukrinform
Pro-Russian forces in Poland are spreading a narrative about an aggressive Ukraine

Andrzej Zapalowski, a pro-Russian politician from Przemysl with openly anti-Ukrainian views, who represents the Confederation nationalist party in the Polish Sejm, posted on Facebook and X a TikTok video of a person with the nickname "Krzysztof Sokolow203."

In the video, a man in an embroidered shirt and with a blue and yellow stripe on his arm, who calls himself lawyer Krzysztof Sokolowski, tells in Polish without a Ukrainian accent that, according to a draft government resolution, 200,000 Polish citizens can be called up to the Polish army this year.

"This means that the Poles are going to war, which is being fought on the eastern border and in Israel. Now it's our turn, we'll go to war and help our brothers," he said. After that, the man starts shouting in Ukrainian with an accent: "Beat Moscow, beat it to the last bullet, forward to Moscow, for our native Ukraine! Death to enemies! Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!"

In his posts, Andrzej Zapalowski reports that the video shows a "Ukrainian" calling on Poles to fight in Ukraine. "In one minute, a Ukrainian warms us up for war with Russia," a member of the Sejm wrote on social media.

In addition to Zapalowski, the message that a "Ukrainian" in a vyshyvanka is calling on Poles to fight on the side of Ukraine in the war with Russia is also being spread by Rafal Mekler, a well-known member of the Confederation party and a face of the blockade of the Ukrainian-Polish border.

This is a fake and manipulation. Krzysztof Sokolowski is not Ukrainian. His Facebook page states that he was born in Warsaw. He writes about himself that he graduated from Warsaw University.

Well-known Polish translator Marcin Rey also confirmed this in his post on Facebook.

A year ago, Sokolowski announced on social media that he was beginning to learn the Ukrainian language.

Sokolowski used to be a lawyer, but lost his license due to numerous cases of fraud and was convicted of abusing his wife.

This video of an alleged "Ukrainian" being shared by pro-Russian forces in Poland is an element of deliberate anti-Ukrainian actions aimed at showing that it is Ukraine, not Russia, that has aggressive intentions and that Ukrainians seek to draw Poland into the war against Russia.

This coincides with the Kremlin's narrative about an aggressive Ukraine that wants to continue waging war, dragging its neighbors into it, instead of stopping fighting and starting negotiations with Russia on its terms.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly emphasized that Ukraine needs weapons and money, rather than NATO troops.

This is not the first fake about the Polish military allegedly fighting or preparing to fight in the Ukrainian-Russian war. Russian propaganda spread fakes that a Polish "mercenary" convicted of murder was on the wanted list in Ukraine and that Leopard 2 tanks with Polish crews were being sent to Ukraine.

Earlier, Russian propaganda spread a fake story that payments to Ukrainians in Poland would be canceled from January 1, 2024.

Yuriy Banakhevych, Andriy Olenin

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