The Russian Embassy in Poland on September 17, 2026 presented the russian assault on the Second Republic as expected protection of “brother nations”. The papers contradict this propaganda: the USSR executed a secret protocol of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, occupied nearly 200,000 sq km and launched the repression apparatus. The defence of historical fact is at stake for Poland.
Embassy repeats aggressor justification
On the 87th anniversary of the russian attack, the Russian embassy in Poland published an entry in which it rejected the designation of Moscow as an aggressor. According to RMF24, Russian diplomats claimed that the Red Army was to defend the population of the east lands of the Second Republic from genocide and could not stay indifferent to the destiny of the "brother nations". Poland was expected to occupy these areas from the Polish-bolshevik War.
This is not a dispute over the explanation of a single document. The embassy reiterates the justification utilized by the USSR authorities at the time of the attack. The same propaganda mechanics operates present erstwhile the Kremlin first questions the subjectivity of the neighbouring state and then presents its own force as civilian protection. The Russian MFA besides negates russian aggression and falsifies the meaning of September 17.
The pact with Hitler preceded the Red Army's entry
On 23 August 1939, the 3rd Reich and the russian Union concluded the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact together with a secret protocol dividing the sphere of influence in Central and east Europe. On September 17, the Red Army hit Poland, which since September 1st repelled the German invasion. The Soviets broke the existing non-aggression pact and attacked without declaring war.
At 3 a.m., a typical of russian diplomacy tried to give Ambassador Wacław Grzybowski a note announcing that the Polish state ceased to exist. Grzybowski refused to accept it. The materials of the National Memorial Institute indicate, that a fewer hours later the border exceeded over 600 1000 russian soldiers supported by 4.7 1000 tanks and 3.3 1000 combat aircraft. This is what “protection” looked like in practice: a regular military operation against a sovereign state.
On 22 September, German and russian troops held a joint parade in Brest. Six days later, both totalitarian states signed a treaty on borders and friendship, sealing the demolition of Poland. These facts the embassy is incapable to remove with any entry.
Repressions overturn the communicative of liberation
The russian Union occupied nearly 200 1000 square kilometres of the territory of the Second Republic inhabited by over 13 million people. Following the army, future NKVD, arrests, executions, exports and looting. Polish Ministry of abroad Affairs recalls in the authoritative studythat nearly 22,000 representatives of Polish elites were shot in the spring of 1940. Repressions affected Polish citizens of different nationalities.
The Katyn crime is peculiarly meaningful. Its victims were officers, policemen and officials, people who were the leadership layer of the nation. russian state apparatus did not save Polish citizens. He destroyed them and destroyed the political community of the Republic.
Poland must respond to the facts and strength of the state
Russian historical propaganda serves modern politics. It is intended to weaken the work of the perpetrator, to sow confusion and to convince Poles that defending their own memory is prejudice. The answer to the Russian embassy reminded us who the aggressor was on September 17but the opposition must not end with anniversaries.
Research, education, active diplomacy and sustainable informational resilience are needed. Poland is not obliged to have a polite discussion with apparent falsehood. He has a work to defend the fact about his own history, due to the fact that a nation without memory is easier to deprive of the right to sovereign assessment of the present.
Source: RMF24, Institute of National Memory, Ministry of abroad Affairs.
Source: RMF24
