Russian media paint Poland as the aggressor. A scenario similar to Ukraine?

Russian media accuse Poland

As early as 2 November, the police, the Border Guard, and the army were deployed to the border with the Królewiec Oblast – the elite GROM unit also appeared. The entire situation is related to the threat of a Russian provocation announced by Donald Tusk.

Russian media are reversing the narrative, portraying Poland as the aggressor. Information portals in the Królewiec Oblast assess that Poland is preparing a “special operation” near the Russian borders, and a Russian military expert, Alexey Ramm, is weaving insinuations that Poland intends to carry out a provocation against Russia.

“GROM soldiers will practice potential actions along the Russian-Polish border, including ways of crossing it. (…) Is it possible that Warsaw is preparing a provocation along the border with the Królewiec Oblast? Such a scenario cannot be ruled out,” he writes in one of his analyses.

Meanwhile, another Russian Telegram channel, “Russia 2.0”, directly suggests that the current actions of the Polish authorities are aimed at starting an open war with Russia. This is an obvious falsehood, but one detail should catch the attention of audiences in Poland – this is not a new method of creating the Russian message.

A scenario like the one before the invasion?

Listening to the narrative of the Russian media, one may get the impression that the messages flowing from the east bear a striking resemblance to those that appeared in the media space just before Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

The propaganda at that time also tried to reverse the roles of aggressor and victim, suggesting that Russia was the injured party, while accusing Ukraine of an imminent attack on the Donbas or even of Ukrainian saboteurs intruding into Russian territory. It was also suggested that Ukraine posed a military threat to Russia, while Russian soldiers were already gearing up for the attack.

Naturally, this does not mean that Russia is actually preparing for an attack on NATO – it is worth noting, however, that we are dealing with a similar propaganda mechanism that is an inseparable part of the Russian narrative.