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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Russia is not only targeting the West with disinformation, but “waging a full-scale cognitive war against us”, Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski has warned. He also said that there is a “Russian fifth column” operating in his own country.
Sikorski’s remarks came at a conference in Poland’s parliament, titled “War for the Mind: Fear, Sabotage, Disinformation”, that aimed to address efforts by hostile foreign actors to negatively influence public sentiment and stoke divisions.
He noted that Russia is employing such methods by “hiring groups and individuals operating under multiple layers of camouflage in operationally difficult-to-access spaces that we still do not recognise as classic theatres of war”.
“From the Kremlin’s perspective, it is a war against the entire West, aimed at our alliances, intended to destroy the foundations of the success of not only Poland but of our entire region,” said the foreign minister.
💬 Rosja, która wpisała wojnę kognitywną do swojej doktryny, nie ukrywa celów: siać zamęt, osłabiać wolę oporu, godzić w wartości demokratyczne, fabrykować i podsycać podziały.
Utrzymywać nas w stanie nieustannej polaryzacji. Bo tak jesteśmy łatwiejsi do rozegrania.
— Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych RP 🇵🇱 (@MSZ_RP) June 8, 2026
Sikorski noted that Russia has spent over $6 billion on its propaganda apparatus since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including a record $1.4 billion in 2025. By contrast, the European Union spends just a fraction of that amount on countering foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).
“We can no longer claim that Russia is solely engaging in disinformation activities against us,” he declared. “Russia is waging a full-scale cognitive war against us.”
Its aim is to “weaken the will to resist” by “undermining democratic values” and “fueling divisions”. Poland has witnessed this first hand, with efforts to “keep us in a constant state of polarisation”.
“We also have a Russian fifth column here in Poland. The numbers show this,” added Sikorski, though without indicating whom he was referring to.
The Polish authorities have in recent years detained a number of individuals accused of working on behalf of Russia to spread disinformation and carry out other so-called “hybrid activities”.
In 2024, the government said that Russian-linked social media accounts had been seeking to “cause panic” by spreading disinformation regarding major floods, including exaggerating the death toll and claiming the authorities were hiding the truth about the disaster.
It has also accused Russia of seeking to stir resentment between Poles and Ukrainians, in an effort to weaken Polish support for its eastern neighbour. Last year, a teenager was arrested on suspicion of working on behalf of Russia to vandalise a memorial to Poles massacred by Ukrainians during World War Two.
Last month, Poland charged three of its own citizens with working on behalf of Russian intelligence to spread disinformation intended to evoke support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. They also allegedly carried out surveillance of NATO troops and underwent firearms training in preparation for acts of sabotage.
In April, prosecutors charged a soldier from Poland’s Territorial Defence Force with espionage. The suspect was reportedly active in a pro-Russian, anti-Ukrainian far-right group.
Poland has charged three of its own citizens with working on behalf of Russian intelligence.
They are accused of spreading disinformation, conducting reconnaissance of NATO troops, and undergoing firearms training in preparation for acts of sabotage https://t.co/maYd0kb9HW
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 20, 2026
Over the last year, Polish far-right leader Grzegorz Braun, who calls for a “normalisation” of relations with Russia, has seen support for his party, Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP), surge to around 8%.
One of Braun’s proposed candidates for next year’s parliamentary elections is on trial for alleged espionage on behalf of Russia.
Last year, Braun echoed Kremlin propaganda by claiming that the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace was in fact faked as part of a conspiracy, involving Poland’s own government, to drag the country into the war in Ukraine. That prompted Sikorski at the time to call Braun a “Russian lackey”.
Two far-right leaders claim the Russian drone incursions were faked by Poland’s own government as part of a conspiracy to drag the country into the war in Ukraine.
They have submitted a notification to prosecutors against foreign minister @sikorskiradek https://t.co/YixQCpQBd7
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 19, 2025
A report earlier this year by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism identified Poland as “the most frequently targeted country” in Europe for acts of sabotage orchestrated by Russia.
In May, Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) released figures showing that it launched twice as many espionage investigations in 2025 as in 2024. Over those two years combined, there were more investigations than across the previous three decades.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Konrad Laskowski/MSZ
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
