- Category
- Latest news
Russia Blames Ukraine After Drone Violation of Polish Airspace in Massive Disinformation Campaign
- Authors
![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Immediately after several Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace on the night of September 10, Moscow launched a large-scale disinformation campaign, according to Spravdi analysts. Debris from at least eight drones and one missile was later found on Polish territory.
As usual, Russian propaganda pushed several narratives simultaneously. On one hand, the Kremlin denied responsibility, with Russia’s Foreign Ministry accusing Warsaw of “spreading myths to escalate the Ukrainian crisis.” On the other, Moscow promoted the claim that Ukraine was behind the incident, allegedly seeking to drag NATO into direct confrontation. To amplify this narrative, Russian lawmakers and so-called “experts” were deployed, including State Duma deputy Serhiy Sheryemet and former Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov.
According to Spravdi, Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reported that Russia also tried to sway public opinion in Poland through bot farms. Monitoring of Polish-language content on Facebook, X, YouTube, Telegram, and TikTok recorded more than 5,000 posts related to the overnight attack, with a combined reach of about 30 million views.
At least 450 open-access posts accused Ukraine of orchestrating the provocation, together generating around 5.5 million views. These false claims revolved around three core narratives: that the incident was a “Ukrainian provocation,” that Kyiv was attempting to draw Poland into war with Russia, and that the drones entered Polish airspace due to alleged Ukrainian air defense mistakes or electronic warfare “spoofing.”
The exact scale of this disinformation campaign will become clear over time. What is already evident, however, is that on the night of September 10, Russia not only staged another provocation against NATO but also sought to weaken the Ukrainian-Polish partnership, Spravdi analysts underscored.
Earlier, it was reported that Russian drone struck a residential property in eastern Poland, damaging a house and a car but causing no injuries—another dangerous spillover of Moscow’s war on Ukraine into NATO territory.
