How Disinformers Pin the Blame for Drone Attacks on Poland on Ukraine
False – the statement is untrue, there is no evidence to support it, the author is lying or unintentionally sharing misleading information.
Several anonymous social media profiles are spreading a video claiming that the drones that entered Poland in September were in fact launched by Ukraine, not Russia. Allegedly, this was part of a larger plan to divide Ukraine. There is no basis for such claims. The drones that entered Poland were Russian.
On the night of September 9–10, 2025, Russian drones violated Polish airspace. This happened during yet another overnight Russian attack on Ukraine. The incident served as a pretext for disinformation on social media. At least seven anonymous accounts helped spread the claim that the drones had actually come from Ukraine. The word of this also reached Latvia. It was amplified by profiles which regularly spread videos containing pro-Kremlin narratives. The video in Russian was introduced with the words:
“NATO in shock! Zelensky disgraced himself by striking Poland while pretending to be Russia.”
Text from the video was also published on the Russian blogging platform Dzen, where it reached 422,000 views. An anonymous voiceover cited unnamed sources from a Telegram channel:
“The Telegram channel “INSIDER-T” writes that the attack on Poland was carried out not by Russian “Geran”, but by Ukrainian copies. According to informed sources, this was a provocation by Zelensky: Kyiv launched drones over Polish territory that had been assembled from the wreckage of Russian drones.”
The supposed aim of the attack was to bring 50,000 Western troops into Ukraine and ultimately divide the country. A few hundred people shared these posts.
What is known about the drones that entered Poland?
On the morning of September 10, Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command announced that the country’s airspace had been violated as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also reported that several Russian drones had crossed Ukraine’s border towards Poland. That night, 19 airspace violations were recorded in Poland. Some of the drones were shot down.
The fact that Russian Gerbera-type drones reached Poland is confirmed by the drone wreckage found in the country and data from radar systems. The Polish fact-checking outlet Demagog also reported this.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s office, published a map of the drone flight paths on his X profile. It shows that the drones which reached Poland were launched from Russia and flew across Ukraine.
Source: Post by Mykhailo Podolyak on X.
Polish officials have repeatedly pointed to Russia’s responsibility. For example, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski described claims that the drones were a Ukrainian provocation as Russian propaganda. Poland’s Press Agency quoted him as saying: “We are certain that these were Russian drones and that it was a Russian operation.”
Is Poland planning to send troops to Ukraine?
No. Poland had already stated earlier that it will not send its troops for eventual peacekeeping missions. Polish president Karol Nawrocki reiterated this on September 9. The narrative about Poland supposedly planning to send troops to Ukraine spread not only in Russia, but also on Chinese social media, according to German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Most likely, these claims stem from remarks made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference in Kyiv on September 11. He said that Ukraine stood ready to advise and assist Poland in drone defense and implied that PM Donald Tusk had agreed to send military representatives to Ukraine for this purpose. It was also reported by Reuters.
Deutsche Welle noted that Zelenskyy’s remarks appear to have been unclearly formulated. The following day, Poland’s Ministry of Defense clarified that drone training and cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian experts were indeed planned, but that “all these activities will take place on the territory of Poland.”
What is known about the Telegram channel mentioned in the video?
The Telegram channel INSIDER-T publishes Russian propaganda daily. The pro-Kremlin outlet Tsargrad claimed that the channel is part of “the media network of exiled oligarch and foreign agent Mikhail Khodorkovsky.” However, the independent Russian exile outlet The Insider disputes this claim. Actual employees of Khodorkovsky’s outlets said they had never heard of the channel and that it has no connection to him.
Where else is this disinformation being spread?
Russian state-controlled media including Tsargrad and Moskovsky Komsomolets also blamed Ukraine for the incident. In their claim, Russian media cited the above-mentioned Telegram channel.
A wave of disinformation also hit Poland. The Polish fact-checking outlet Demagog reported on false claims that Ukraine was preparing for war against Poland and therefore tested Polish radars with drones. In this version, disinformers alleged that Putin was being blamed for the incident in order to convince Poland to attack Russia and drag the country into war.
A similar narrative of a supposed “Ukrainian provocation” to draw NATO countries into war was also spread in Estonia, according to the Estonian portal Delfi.
Other Polish social media users framed it as Ukraine’s “revenge,” since on September 9 President Nawrocki announced that he would not support sending Polish troops to Ukraine.
It should be noted that Kremlin propaganda outlets and bloggers have for years spread claims about alleged Polish plans to invade Ukraine, send in troops, or seize part of the country. Re:Check has written about this before here, here and here.
Conclusion: There is no basis for the claim that the drones in Poland were a Ukrainian provocation. They entered the NATO country from Russian territory.
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