At protests near the border where the war is taking place, triple caution is required. The provocateurs came hunting

The extremely provocative banner on the front of the protesting farmer’s tractor received comment today not only in Poland, but also in Ukraine and Russia. In Ukraine, the Ukrainian press included this incident in reporting on alleged anti-Ukrainian sentiments in Poland. The channel Insader UA reported on the content of the Polish farmer’s banner, as well as on the rapid intervention of the police and the threat of two charges against him. “At least they woke up here,” says the Insider. Comments from internet users are overwhelmingly negative, with few acknowledging that this was an isolated, provocative case. Putin’s chief propgandist, Vladimir Soloviev, is proud of the poster. He also showed a photo of the inscription on his channel and after the police intervened, he called the Poles ‘clowns’.

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Provocation during the farmers’ protest. Scandalous banner

Farmers have their reasons for this and their interests should not suffer from the export of Ukrainian agricultural products. However, protesters have a duty to look out for each other before commenting on or interfering in Ukraine’s war affairs. They must be even more wary of agents provocateurs appearing at demonstrations that are less important than simply hindering transportation along the border. Regardless of whether the tractor driver with the shameful call to Putin to do business with Ukraine was an ordinary fool or a conscious provocateur, the responsibility of the participants in this demonstration turned out to be insufficient.

There’s so much talk about information war, disinformation and fake news, which is especially important considering the eastern border where the war is taking place, and suddenly an ostentatious inscription raises Polish-Ukrainian tensions to a previously unknown temperature. Of course, some oligarchs from the East are trying to make money unfairly by sending agricultural products from their farms to the Polish market, but the recipients of the ‘call to Putin’ were neither the President of Russia nor some Ukrainian entrepreneurs who abused the law, but – thanks to Internet sensationalism and deliberate disinformation – millions of Ukrainians, some of whom are now trapped in dirty trenches or have loved ones in the front . They are now the ones who look with amazement at the ‘Polish’ call for the genocidal Putin to ‘deal with’ their neighbor.

Fighting for the interests of Polish farmers, yes, but cursing the fighting Ukrainians is a shameful scandal. The action could also have been a complex provocation, the result of an operation by one of the services or influential agents – after all, representatives of the post-Moczar right wing are increasingly appearing at the protests. But the fact that war has become common does not mean that it has become less dangerous. Poland’s raison d’être still applies: Ukraine must defend itself to prevent the Russians from advancing.

Tonight I received from a resident of Kherson, a city formerly occupied by Russians, a photo of a provocative banner with a desperate question to me as a Pole: “why?” And what should you answer to such a person? And how do you answer those who don’t ask but think about it?