Polish secret service coordinator gives insight into recent russian drone attack

Dominik Mikołajczyk: We have to start with what happened a few days ago, that is, with the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones. The fact that a dozen or so Russian drones fell on the territory of Poland is one thing, but another matter entirely is the wave of disinformation that accompanied it. Do the special services have the tools to effectively counteract it?

Tomasz Siemoniak, Minister Coordinator of the Polish Secret Service: I confirm that the violation of [Polish] airspace on a massive scale was accompanied by a large disinformation campaign. This is evidence that the drone incursion was not an accident, but a planned and deliberate operation. That night, the service reported a huge increase in disinformation also about what was happening on Russian or Ukrainian networks around the topic of drones. There was an impulse to act immediately, because disinformation is fought by providing reliable information. 

It is crucial that users [of the internet and social media] do not succumb to false messages, that they read the announcements of the authorities, the army and reliable media. It is impossible to fight disinformation with operational methods. Of course, you can look for accounts that spread it, close them, punish them, but it is very important that well-known trustworthy people not take part in spreading unverified information. The web is chock-full of various lies and nonsense. The worst thing is when they start to have the status of a half-truth and some untrue fact or video starts to cause panic. These are the methods we know from 2022. We really have recognized these mechanisms quite well.

The main goal of this disinformation campaign was to show that it was the Ukrainians, that Ukraine was behind these actions.

And, once again, let’s say it directly, this is not the case.

The Prime Minister and the President spoke about it. Neither the military nor the service have the slightest doubt that this attack was an attack by Russian drones. There is no premise or evidence to accuse Ukraine of this in any way. On the other hand, this disinformation campaign referred to what was happening that night, but also raised issues that arouse tensions or stir up negative emotions like sending Polish troops to Ukraine, privileges for Ukrainians in Poland or unresolved historical conflicts.

Russia’s strategic goal in these activities is to build tension between Poland and Ukraine, Poles and Ukrainians.

The Polish authorities treat the whole event as a Russian provocation. Should we expect further actions now? Acts of sabotage, diversion? In your opinion, is a drone attack a kind of prelude?

Russia is carrying out various actions. We have a huge number of cyber attacks [in Europe] and Poland is the most attacked country. This is our everyday life. We have a whole series of acts of sabotage commissioned by the Russian services, which were simply hostile actions of these services against Poland. We have what is happening on the Polish-Belarusian border, which is a form of hybrid warfare, the weaponization of migration. It is difficult to answer at this point what exactly may be happening, but we are subjected to constant pressure. For us, it is obvious that the very strong response that was taken in connection with the drone incursion showed everyone that we absolutely do not agree to such attacks, that we have the support of allies, and drones that may pose a threat will simply be shot down.