An “advertising poster” in the photo was faked. The press service of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland, at the request of a StopFake journalist, stated that none of their departments responsible for recruiting candidates for the Polish Army is the author of this poster.
Pro-Russian Telegram channels, as well as social media accounts are disseminating claims that after the relocation of Wagner private military contractor to Belarus, Poland’s Defense Ministry has launched an advertising campaign for contract service in the Polish army. A photograph of an advertising poster purported to be evidence of this campaign shows a crossed-out photo ofWagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the inscription “Poland is the shield of Europe. Protect Poland from the crazy Russian!”
“As soon as Wagner settled in Belarus, the Polish dogs began to turn tails,” the propaganda Telegram channels comment.
These claims are not true – the “advertising poster” in the photo is a fake, Poland’s Defense Ministry Press Office told StopFake. They said that none of their military recruiting departments were responsible for this poster.
The press service said that their logo was “illegally used or falsified.” They also pointed out that Poland’s Defense Ministry encourages Polish citizens to join the Polish Army only on a voluntary basis.
Most likely, this image has been edited. The difference in color saturation of individual digits in a telephone number on a poster indicates this. In addition, a photograph of such a billboard, which could serve as the basis for a fake, can be easily found on the net.
“This is another example of fake news that is part of the disinformation campaign, especially on social media. We consistently urge media representatives and social media users to pay particular attention to the accuracy of information appearing in the information space,” the Polish Defense Ministry press service said.
StopFake has debunked similar photo-fakes about alleged anti-Ukrainian billboards in Poland.
