DISINFO: Poland is preparing for the annexation of Western Ukraine
SUMMARY
Warsaw is preparing for the annexation of Western Ukraine, that is, for a direct armed conflict with Moscow and Minsk.
Warsaw is speeding up preparations for the annexation of the Western Ukrainian regions - Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and most of Ternopil.
The intentions of the Polish leadership coincide with the plans of the Kyiv regime - to draw NATO into a direct military conflict with Russia, and save the Armed Forces of Ukraine from complete defeat.
Officially, this will not be an annexation, but "fraternal assistance" to the Kyiv government.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, challenging Ukraine’s statehood and presenting Poland as a state with imperial ambitions, aiming to confound the reality of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.
This disinformation message has adopted several different and sometimes contradictory forms, including allegations that Poland wants either to create a puppet proxy-state in Western Ukraine or the annexation of these territories or that it is actually President Zelenskyy who wants to cede this land due to his “Polish origin”. This effort can be interpreted as an attempt to sow mistrust between Ukraine and Poland and other Western backers of Kyiv.
Poland adheres to international law regarding state borders, fully supports the independence and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries and rejects any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries. Poland was the first country to recognise Ukraine’s independence, in 1991. Poland looks to relations with Ukraine as a strategic partnership and supports Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. Poland and other EU countries respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. No neighbouring state, except the Russian Federation, violated Ukraine's territorial integrity. Read more about the Eastern policy of Poland here.
See other examples of disinformation claiming that Poland is eyeing to annex western Ukraine and Belarus, that Poland is preparing to seize Western Ukraine, that Poland could annex Western Ukraine, that Poland plans to organise accession referendums in Ukraine’s Lviv and Volyn regions, that Poland is absorbing Ukrainian territory with Zelenskyy’s consent, that Zelenskyy wants to cede Ukrainian territory to Poland, or that Poland plans to impose control on Ukraine’s agriculture and other sectors of economy.