Since mid-September, an uncharacteristically heavy rainfall has caused a series of floods across Central Europe. One country particularly affected by the unseasonal inundations was Poland. As Polish authorities declared a state of emergency, and rushed to rescue those already affected and evacuate people from potential danger, the Kremlin’s disinformation peddlers saw an opening to complicate the situation by pushing false stories trying to discredit Polish authorities and even blame Ukraine for the natural disaster.
Like carrion vultures
Exploiting the uncertainties and anxieties that abound when a natural disaster strikes is straight from the Kremlin’s playbook of information manipulation. When floods struck Poland, malicious pro-Kremlin actors and opportunistic meddlers alike gathered like carrion vultures to see how this disaster could best be harnessed to inflict some damage on Polish authorities. For the Kremlin, this was a cynical opportunity to push once again its favoured ‘elites versus the people’ disinformation narrative to seed public distrust in state authorities.
Like Ukraine, Poland has also long since been in the Kremlin’s crosshairs as a main target for its information manipulation and disinformation campaigns. As expected, the main disinformation narratives sought to exacerbate anxiety, exploit fears, and tarnish the authorities. For example, outlets predicted ‘thousands of casualties’ or accused local authorities as well as the national government of hiding ‘the real numbers’. Other disinformation narratives and manipulation attempts included accusing Poland of using Russia or Belarus as a distraction ‘to cover up for its own failures’, or claiming that Polish authorities have clamped down on factual reporting about the floods under the guise of fighting Russian disinformation.
This is a classic information manipulation tactic – publically speculate about what could have happened and imply that the authorities in charge are hiding the truth. It is designed to erode societal cohesion and undermine trust in authorities. This approach can be particularly salient in times of crises.
Always a Ukraine angle
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearly a million Ukrainians have found safety from Russian aggression in Poland. So naturally, pro-Kremlin disinformation peddlers tried to use the floods to vilify the temporarily displaced Ukrainians residing in Poland and accused the Polish government of favouring them over ‘their own people’. Common accusations included false claims that Poland devotes more resources to Ukraine than to helping Polish citizens, that too much money is going to support the war, or that Ukrainians are looting and pillaging Poland under the cover of the floods.
Usual suspects, unusual methods
Curiously, the pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives exploiting the floods did not get much exposure in the usual, well-known, mainline pro-Kremlin outlets, such as the Polish language version of Pravda, a outlet exposed as part of the notorious Portal Kombat campaign. Instead, perhaps in an attempt to simulate the appearance of legitimate grassroots concerns, most deceitful content about the floods was spread on social media platforms, especially Telegram and X (formerly Twitter). However, there was also a series of seemingly factual articles, but despite their factual style the tone implicitly suggested that the reader draw the erroneous conclusion that Polish authorities have failed to manage the crisis successfully. This, too, can be a tactic of information manipulation. Don’t be deceived.
Article and pictures first time published on the EUvsDisinfo web page. Prepared for publication by volunteers from the Res Publica - The Center for Civil Resistance.
