A sophisticated, Russian-linked disinformation campaign dubbed the “Matryoshka” network is actively weaponizing a deepening historical and political rift between Poland and Ukraine, according to a report from the Antibot4Navalny monitoring group. Emerging on June 22, the operation seeks to amplify friction regarding Ukraine’s decision to grant a military unit an honorary title associated with the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The ongoing tension has reached a critical stage, exemplified by Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s decision to revoke President Volodymyr Zelensky’s highest state honor, marking what many observers describe as the most significant diplomatic crisis between the two neighbors in years.
The Matryoshka bots have deployed a barrage of fabricated social media content centered on the narrative that “Nazism” is rampant within the Ukrainian leadership and public. By exploiting historical grievances, these actors aim to manufacture the impression of insurmountable ideological divides between Warsaw and Kyiv. In one instance, the network circulated a fraudulent claim that Piotr Cywinski, the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, publicly lobbied to ban Zelensky from attending Holocaust commemorations, an assertion designed to alienate the Polish public from the Ukrainian cause.
The propaganda offensive extends beyond Poland and Ukraine, casting a wider net to implicate international partners and erode global support for Kyiv. According to Antibot4Navalny, the network has disseminated fabricated video content claiming that Estonian officials are returning Polish state honors in protest and allege that an Estonian Member of the European Parliament invited President Zelensky to a “gathering of SS veterans.” This tactic of internationalizing the controversy is designed to suggest that Ukraine’s supposed extremist associations are a global concern, further poisoning the diplomatic atmosphere surrounding the nation’s allies.
Disturbingly, the campaign has also embraced more violent and inflammatory rhetoric, including false allegations that Ukrainian forces are intentionally killing Polish “mercenaries”—a term Moscow frequently uses to describe foreign volunteers—and that the Ukrainian military views Polish citizens as “slaves.” To gain credibility, the perpetrators are masking these assertions behind the stolen logos of reputable outlets such as Der Spiegel, Euronews, and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). By pairing this institutional branding with unrelated stock footage, the Matryoshka network creates a veneer of legitimacy, even though experts caution that the view counts—averaging 30,000 per post—are likely inflated by artificial means.
This hostile information maneuver is the latest iteration of a well-documented Russian strategy to fracture alliances by exploiting local cultural or historical sensitivities. Similar campaigns were previously deployed during diplomatic friction between Ukraine and Israel regarding grain transit and during the lead-up to Hungarian parliamentary elections. Polish and Ukrainian officials have issued urgent warnings that Moscow is aggressively maneuvering to drive a wedge between the two nations, which have remained essential partners since the onset of the full-scale invasion in 2022, serving as a critical logistical conduit for Western military aid and a sanctuary for millions of Ukrainian refugees.
At the heart of the vulnerability lies the complex and painful historical memory of the UPA. While many Ukrainians view the group primarily through the lens of their resistance against Soviet occupation, Polish society fundamentally remembers the UPA for the 1943-1945 Volyn massacres, a period of devastating ethnic violence. By exploiting these historical scars, Russia aims to destabilize a strategic alliance that has been a cornerstone of European security since 2022. As the rift persists, the role of independent monitoring groups remains essential in exposing how state-sponsored disinformation is attempting to transform historical memory into a weapon of modern geopolitical sabotage.
