The Telegram channels spreading pro-Russian propaganda in Poland

In cleaning in the forest, two men stand behind a series of wooden pillars that have pictures of the face stuck on them.

Portraits include American President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and a billionaire Elona Musk. The American flag hangs in front of them.

Men carry camouflage clothes with blue tags – a color that Ukrainian soldiers often bear them to identify them on the battlefield.

“We don’t need allies like you,” says one of the men in Ukraine, while flag flags and portraits.

But this video, shares with thousands of Telegram Channel subscribers in Polish, is staged. Uniforms are generic camouflage easily purchased online, while Ukrainian words are very wrongly presented and speaking with a strong Russian accent.

It is shared on the Telegram of the Pollian Information Group, one of the 22 channels of the Polish language, with more than 150,000 subscribers between them, that the BBC has identified as divided by various shapes of propaganda disinformation and propaganda.

The telegram is not used in Poland, but experts say that fake messages are increased among extremist groups, and then spread to other platforms that have higher reaches.

22 Channels are mainly represented as Polish news and information services. The two claims that they are “impartial”, while someone promises “impartial” news. One channel was dealt with as if it would offer “reliable and proven information hidden from the public,” while the second has a slogan “We are where the truth is needed.”

Most often lists or repeat content from Russian state media, such as RT and sputnik, which are prohibited in the European Union for Manipulating Information and Expanding Propaganda. Poland is a member of the EU.

Channels often quote or connect with Russian figures and supporters. President Vladimir Putin, Deputy Chief of National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharov, Russian propagandist TV presentation Vladimir Soloviov and Prorusive war commentators are known as “Z-bloggers”.

Some posts on these channels include unknown false information. For example, the image published by the UKR LEAKS_PL shows the figures in military clothing, which is caused by the “Buchi” Bucha “prepared”, imply that the murders of hundreds of Ukrainians are well documented in 2022. Years.

Some channels often refer to Ukrainian leaders and soldiers as “Nazis”. In one post, Infodefensepoland called the government in Kiev “Nazi regime”, claiming that it “controlled the United States” and others in the west.

Often the mixture of true and false information is divided, or channels are omitted crucial information to get the wrong impression. For example, for example, Russia carried out in Kiev at the deadliest attack in Kiev, hitting residential buildings and, towards Ukrainian authorities, killing at least 28 people.

More than half of the channel completely ignored the incident, some of them instead, emphasizing the progression of the Russian army in Ukraine. Several others, echoing the Kremlin narrative, blamed Ukraine because of the victims, claiming that Russia attacks only target military locations.

By analyzing the telegram data, the BBC revealed that many of the channels appeared over time of Russian full invasion in Ukraine in 2022 years. Years.

At least three originally published in Russian before they were rumored as Polish.

Telegram data reveals that most 22 channels often cited, re-or mentioned each other. In 2022. and 2023. years, this included lists for sharing described as a “good Polish telegram” and lists the followers for subscription.

Poland was a crucial player in alliance of countries that support Ukraine from the invasion of Russia, the leading path in the early months in sending military assistance and equipment.

It is impatient to avoid the target of Russian aggression, Poland has become an increasingly prominent defense partner in the European Union and NATO and took it in about a million Ukrainian refugees of 2022. Years.

From 2022. years, Russian disinformation and impact surgery became a “consistent element of the Polish digital infosphere”, says Aleksi Szimkievzz Poland organizations for checking the facts Demagog.

He says the telegram works as a “starting point”.

“False or manipulative claims are first placed there – then spread to larger platforms like X. And then from X, for example, talk to discussions in Facebook groups.”

According to Mr. Szimkieviczu, these probe telegrams aims to discourage support for Ukraine, polarize public opinion and drives a wedge between Polish and Ukrainian societies.

Poland now shows signs of fatigue towards refugees, which partially manages anti-Ukrainian propaganda, he says.

Some messages that circle on the channels are open Prorushine or anti-Ukrainian, but others are more subtle.

For example, some recent posts suggest that there are increased military spending in EU countries that want to oppose what they see as a threat of Russia, driving citizens – including pillars – poverty.

Other common narratives used unprofitable generalizations on Ukrainian refugees, show them as aggressive, breaking laws and drains to host countries.

Mr. Szimkievicz says that messages like these “play in real fears” by eavesdropping existing economic and cultural apprehensions in Polish society.

Filip Głovacz, senior analyst at our National Research Institute in Warsaw, says that there is a “strong historical indignant in Russia” in Poland, which was in the Soviet sphere of influence several decades.

This can mean that “explicitly barrows messages do not work”, and the prophetic actors sometimes “push Pro-Kremlin narratives together with the distant right content, conspiracy theories, etc.”

The telegram is a “ideal platform” for this, it says, explaining that it has an impact among distant rates and conspiracy theorists.

Although the identity behind most channels remain unclear, experts say that there are signs of links for Russia or its ally Belarus. According to Mr. Głovaczu, the publishing times of many channels suggests to follow the layout schedule in line with the working hours of Moscow.

Ukr Leaks_PL is part of a wider website of Vasili, a former officer in the Ukrainian security service, which shifted the parties to transfer the parties to transfer the parties to transfer the parties to transfer the parties.

Infodefensepoland belongs to the InfoDefense group, which operates in more than 30 languages ​​and is connected to Iuri Podoliaka, originally pro-Kremlin Blogger originally from Ukraine. He is now in Russia and in the absence in absence was convicted by Ukrainian courts for cooperation with Moscow.

The channel told the BBC that it had more than 500 volunteers around the world. “There are many people in the world that support Russia. They help us. Yuri Podoliaka is one of them,” she said.

Second channel, justice PL, is part of a group of justice – a large international network of pro-kreemlin sites and social media pages.

The State Agency of France to combat misinformation, Viginum, says that it is connected to the Russian IT company based in Russian-occupied Crimea.

According to NEVSGUARD – a company that inflicts the news and websites for reliability – justice spreading content so widely that “infects” answers and chatbot.

NewsGuard tested 10 chatbots with a pattern of fake narratives he divided into justice. He says they sometimes repeat or cited misinformation, while at other times he questioned.

Justice and Ukr_Leaks did not respond to the Requests of the BBC comment.

A Polish group of information, a channel that shared the video of the American portraits that was burned, shares a mixture of content, including some that provides Ukrainian perspective. He told the BBC “Independent Channel News” and its “prevailing principle is impartiality,” he strongly rejects claims that promoted Pro-Kremlin narratives.

He said that content on the channel can be shared “as an example of controversial material that circulates on the Web, without any approval or evaluation of the editorial”. The material can be removed or corrected if it turns out to be inuthentic, he added.

Mr. Szimkiewicz says that the spread of the polls of the Telegram, because it allows the content of state media sources such as RT and sputnik to remain present in the field of Polish language, often reach a wide audience.

“Such content is often false, manipulated or inside,” he says.

He adds that anti-Ukrainian posts are “legitimize and abolish perspectives and narratives of the Russian regime in Polish public discourse.”

The BBC World Service launches a new language service on Tuesday, BBC News Polska. This is the first new service language from March 2018. years, bringing our impartial and reliable global journalism, including original reporting from all over Europe, on the audience speaking Polish. It is the first BBC language technology service for use and translation technologies – all translation also has human editorial surveillance and is clearly marked.