Russian state television has shown images of a Polish city in a news report on the development of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
The broadcast on Russia-1 – which like other state-owned broadcasters is used to promote pro-government propaganda – featured economic development minister Maxim Reshetnikov as well as video clips purporting to illustrate the development of Kaliningrad.
However, some of the images actually show Elbląg, a city in northern Poland, around 55km (34 miles) from the border with Kaliningrad. The footage includes St Nicholas Cathedral, a 13th-century Gothic church that is a landmark of the Polish city, in drone footage taken in Elbląg.
Czyżby Rosjanie docenili urok polskich miast? 🤔
Na antenie prokremlowskiego kanału telewizyjnego Rossija 1 pojawił się program o rozwoju obwodu królewieckiego. Problem w tym, że materiał zilustrowano ujęciami z… Elbląga 🤷♀️
Źródło: rusnews pic.twitter.com/VKbMKlArCv
— Biełsat (@Bielsat_pl) September 29, 2023
Kaliningrad has become a point of tension between Poland and Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year. The Polish government last year erected a razor-wire fence along the border and this year started to install an electronic barrier – consisting of cameras and sensors – there.
In May, the government body responsible for standardising foreign place names in the Polish language recommended that the Russian exclave should no longer be known as Kaliningrad, but rather by its historical Polish name of Królewiec.
Last year, Poland also opened a new canal that allows ships to reach the port of Elbląg without having to pass through Russian waters around Kaliningrad.
Poland's road authority has begun to remove the name of Russian exclave "Kaliningrad" from signs and replace it with the historical Polish name "Królewiec".
Last month, a government body advised that the change should be made, as we reported here: https://t.co/JUw85rdeYi pic.twitter.com/oRKxhvS62p
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 1, 2023
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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.
