Telegram channels are expanding pro-Russian propaganda in Poland

When cleaning in a forest, there are two men behind a row of wooden poles with faces that are stuck on them.

Portraits are the President of the US Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk Bilibea. Hangs the US flag in front of them.

The man wear camouflage clothes with blue marks – the color used to identify Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield.

“We don’t need any Aliaria like you,” says one of the men in the Ukrainians, flags and portraits that fire fire.

But this video is shared with thousands of subscribers from a Polish language telegram channel. They are generic camouflages purchased online easily in line, while many Ukrainian words are badly written and speaking with a strong Russian accent.

Polish Groupa reported telegram channels, with a Polish language, with more than 150,000 subscribers, BBC shared several forms of Russian misinformation and propaganda.

The telegram is not widely used in Poland, but experts say that false messages are amplified between extreme groups and then extend to other higher access platforms.

22 Channels are largely presented as Polish news and information services. The two “impartial” claims must be “unbiased” while the news promises. A channel has the invoice to offer itself “reliable and proven information hidden to the public, a slogan” where it is in need “.

Most often refer to or repeat content from the Russian state media, such as RT and Sputnik, to manipulate information that has been prohibited in the European Union and expand propaganda. Poland is a member of the EU.

Channels are often favorable to the Russian regime and supporters. President of Vladimir Putin, the Deputy Director of the President of Dmitry Medvedev, referred to by Vladimir Solovyov and Russian war comments known as Vladimir Solovyov and “Z-Bloggers”.

Some of these channels are false information. For example, Ukrain Leaks_PL Channel shows people that apply fake blood images and prepared “Bucha victims”, “Hundreds of Russian forces in 2022 did not happen well documented in the Ukrainian murder.

Some channels often refer to Ukrainian leaders and soldiers as “Nazis”. In a post, Infodefensepoland named the government “Nazi Scheme” by the government, “the United States” monitored “, and others in the west.

It often mixes true and false information, or channels leave decisive information to give deceptive impression. On June 17, Russia assaulted Kyiv in the months, according to the residential buildings and, according to Ukraine authorities, at least 28 people were killed.

More than half of the channels completely ignored the incident, some of which are advances in the Russian army rather than highlighting Ukraine. Others, narrative Kremlin shouted, accused Ukraine for the dead, directing Russian attacks only by military sites.

By analyzing the telegram data, BBC has found a lot of channels that the entire Ukrainian invasion was created in 2022.

At least three times were published in Russian before re-recreating.

Telegram data reveal that most 22 channels often refer to, again or other. In 2022 and 2023, the lists described as “Polish telegram benefit benefit sources” were collected and subscribers to subscribe.

Poland has been the enerance of the countries that allow the Russian invasion.

Eager to become the target of Russian attacks, Poland has become increasingly prominent in the European Union and Naton, and has taken about a million refugees since 2022.

Since 2022, Russian misinformation and influence operations “has become a consistent element of the Polish digital infoshere”, says Aleksy Szymkiewic’s demagog of Polish verification organization.

The Telegram function said as a “starting point”.

“False or manipulative claims are published there first and then spread to large platforms like X and from X, for example, will go to discuss discussions in Facebook groups.”

According to Mr. Szymkiewicz, these Russian telegram channels want to disclose Ukraine support, polarizing public opinion and driving a wedge between Police and Ukrainian societies.

Poland is showing signs of fatigue for refugees, partly guided by Ukrainian propaganda.

Some messages that circulate channels are Russian or anti-Ukrainians, but others are more subtle.

For example, some recent posts suggest that increasing military expenditure in EU countries as a Russian threat, driving citizens and including poles.

Other common narratives use general general rights in Ukraine refugees, portraying the host countries, leaking, legal reflection and spacing.

Mr. Szymkiewicz said messages like “playing in fear” by pressing the economic and cultural anxives within the Polish society.

Philip Głowacz, NASK National Institute of Research in Warsaw, says, says that “strong historical resentment to Russia” was in the field of Soviets in the field of several decades.

This means that “explicitly pro-Russian messages don’t work,” and pro-Russian actors sometimes “I decided to contents Pro-Kremlin Narrets, Conspiratice Theories, etc.”

The telegram is an “ideal platform” to do so, he says he has emphasized that it is exposed to the theorists of the right communities and conspiracies.

The identities behind most channels are not clear, experts say that Russia or its allied are linked links. According to Mr. Głowacz, the publication of many channels suggests that follow the shipping calendar based on the alternate shift with Moscow work schedules.

Ukrain Leaks_pl Ukrink Leaks Group is wider. Telegram channels and affiliated platforms directing Vasily Prozorov, former Ukrainian security officer, sides collaborated with Russia.

Infodefensepoland is a group of infotefense that operates in more than 30 languages, and is linked to Yury Podolyaka, controversial controversial Kremlin blog from Ukraine. It is now in Russia and is punished in absente to collaborate with the Ukrainian courts in Moscow.

The channels BBC had more than 500 volunteers from around the world. “There is a lot of people in the world that support Russia. We’re helping. Yuri podolyaka is one of them,” he said.

Pravda PL, Pravda Pl, is part of the Pravda group. Pro-Kremlin News is a large international network of websites and social networking pages.

To address the misinformation of the French State Agency, Viginum says that it is linked to a Russian business based on Russian occupied crimes.

According to Newsguard – it is a company that priced news and information websites for reliability.

NewsGuard has tested 10 Chatbots with a sample of false narratives shared in Pravda. Sometimes he says they have repeated or mentioned the misinformation while sometimes interrogation.

Pravda and Ukr_eaks didn’t answer BBC’s requests.

Polska Groupa Informacyjna, channels that shared US portraits video shares a mixture of content, including some Ukrainian perspectives. He said to BBC’s “an independent news channel” and “The main principle is not impartiality,” criticized claims promoted by Pro-Kremlin narratives.

Can be shared as an example of controversial material that circulates online “, without approval or evaluation of editorial staff”. The material can be removed or corrected, inauguration, added.

Szymkiewicz says the spread of Russian disinformation due to the telegram, which allows the content of the state media, such as RT and Sputnik are usually in the landscape of Polish speakers, often reaching a wide audience.

“Such content is false, manipulated, or the correct fabric,” he noted.

It adds “Ukrainian anti-messages” and the views of the Russian entry regime and narratives in the Public Polish discourse. “

BBC World Service launches a new language service on Tuesday, BBC News Polska. It is a new BBC first language service since March 2018, bringing our impartial and reliable global journalism, the original reports of Europe, Polish audiences. AI is the first BBC language service for using technology. All translation has supervision of man’s editorial and is clearly labeled.