Warsaw condemns Putin’s allegations of Polish plans to annex Western Ukraine

“This is nothing more than disinformation and another attempt to trigger animosity and tension between Ukrainians and the allies supporting Kyiv,” the statement read.

The ministry stated that Poland has never made, does not make, and has no future intention of making any territorial claims against Ukraine.

“Poland fully recognizes, respects, and steadfastly supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine within its legally established, internationally recognized borders,” the ministry wrote.

Poland described the Kremlin’s accusations as a “primitive attempt” at information warfare.

“Moscow's suggestions regarding alleged plans by Poland and others to annex western Ukrainian lands are a primitive attempt at disinformation and a permanent fixture of its information warfare,” the statement clarified. 

“The objective of these actions is clear: to sow discord among European nations and divert international attention away from the brutal, illegal military aggression being waged by the Russian Federation.”

“We call on the authorities of the Russian Federation to cease making territorial claims against their neighbors,” the statement concluded.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin told navy personnel in Saint Petersburg on July 26 that Ukraine would “sooner or later lose its western lands”.

Putin also claimed that Ukraine's western regions were a “gift from Joseph Stalin”, arguing that the Soviet dictator did not intend for those lands to belong to Ukraine permanently, but rather “within the framework of a unified state”.

The Russian dictator then went on to claim that he is “confident that, sooner or later, Ukraine will lose these western lands”.

“And whatever belonged to Poland, Hungary, or Romania will, sooner or later – perhaps not tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, in a year, two, 10, or 15 – historically fall back into place,” Russian state news agency TASS quoted Putin as saying.

Russian provocations

The United States has warned that Russia is planning an armed "provocation" inside Poland, according to a July 3 report by The Telegraph citing sources close to Polish President Karol Nawrocki. The outlet stated that these aggressive actions could be launched from either the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad or from Belarus, encompassing scenarios ranging from missile and drone strikes to an actual ground incursion by Russian troops across the state border.

Russian provocations could begin within several months, political analyst Petro Oleshchuk said on Radio NV on July 4, citing U.S. intelligence. Poland, rather than the Baltic states, could become the main target of Russian hybrid aggression, Oleshchuk said. Poland is not fully prepared for such a scenario because it has been reluctant to learn from Ukraine’s experience, he added.

Russia is prepared to send so-called “little green men” into the Baltic states, Polish Foreign Intelligence Agency chief Col. Paweł Szota said on June 28. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has become a hostage to his own defeat, meaning Moscow could continue its war against Ukraine for several more years while simultaneously carrying out hybrid attacks against NATO’s eastern borders, Szota said.

Lithuania’s Defense Ministry offered a somewhat different assessment on June 29. There were no objective signs that Russia was preparing a full-scale military attack against the Baltic states, the ministry said in comments cited by Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on July 21 that Russia could use drones disguised as Ukrainian aircraft to stage provocations against NATO countries.

One possible scenario could involve a group of drones bearing Ukrainian markings entering the airspace of Poland or another country on NATO’s eastern flank to create the impression that they had been launched by Ukraine’s Defense Forces, Polish officials said.