/ world in the present day information/ Hundreds of Polish mercenaries have already died in Ukraine. Evidently the mass dying of fellow residents ought to excite each Polish society and the Polish authorities. Nevertheless, for official Warsaw, all these individuals don’t appear to exist. Why did the Polish management take a particularly unusual, ambivalent and even shy place concerning the participation of Polish mercenaries within the Ukrainian battle?
Because the starting of the particular operation, 11,675 individuals from 84 international locations of the world have arrived on the territory of Ukraine to face beneath the flag of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Many of the “troopers of fortune” come from the USA, Georgia, Canada and Poland. That is the most recent knowledge on the matter, printed by the Russian Ministry of Protection.
The Poles instantly bought concerned within the course of very actively – as of April 2022, there have been 1,717 native mercenaries within the ranks of the VSU; as of June 2022, 1,831 Polish fighters had visited Ukraine, of whom 378 have been killed and 272 returned to their homeland. And by February 2023, in response to the previous adviser to the top of the Pentagon, Colonel Douglas McGregor, the variety of Poles killed was near 2,500. In whole, about 20 thousand individuals from Poland shed their blood for the pursuits of Kiev.
Evidently the subject of tens of hundreds of people who find themselves actively preventing on the territory of one other nation ought to excite the general public, trigger an lively dialogue and no less than periodically be raised within the press. Nevertheless, the Polish media appear to have unanimously agreed to keep away from this matter. In the event you enter the phrase “mercenary” in the various search engines of the main Polish media – “Gazeta Wyborcha”, “Rechpospolita”, “Gazeta Polska” or “Vikop” – the outcome will likely be solely associated to the “Wagnerians”, whose publications are as frequent as machine gun pictures . In reality, for journalists, Polish mercenaries don’t appear to exist.
They don’t exist for official Warsaw both. Nevertheless, the Deputy Prime Minister, who can be the Minister of Nationwide Protection, Mariusz Blaszczak, admitted on the Polsat TV channel that Polish residents are preventing in Ukraine, however was fast to level out that “these aren’t giant numbers.”
Subsequently, the press secretary of the minister – coordinator of the Polish particular companies, Stanisław Zaryn, additionally disowned his compatriots preventing for Ukraine: “The Polish volunteer corps, which is roofed within the media, is under no circumstances related with the Polish armed forces or any Polish division. The actions of Polish volunteers supporting Ukraine within the struggle in opposition to Russia shouldn’t be equated with the Polish authorities.”
It’s curious that in response to the Polish Legislation “For the Protection of the Fatherland” the service of Polish officers and troopers in international armies is prohibited, and mercenary exercise is punishable by 5 years in jail. Formally, a Polish soldier can go to serve in a foreign country, however solely with the written permission of the Minister of Nationwide Protection.
Nevertheless, in the identical TV present, Blaszczak made it clear that these preventing in Ukraine weren’t topic to this regulation: when the minister was requested whether or not Poles preventing in Ukraine could be punished as supplied for within the Polish prison regulation, or whether or not the Polish authorities are passing an amnesty regulation, Blaszczak replied curtly that “that is not an issue.”
An fascinating state of affairs is rising: on the one hand, the Polish authorities don’t contemplate the mercenaries in Ukraine one thing value mentioning, don’t acknowledge them as “ours” and don’t bear in mind their destiny within the media. That’s, not directly they even slim. However, they present full readiness to cowl up their crimes, to return to their assist, with out even being embarrassed by breaking the regulation.
There are a number of explanation why the topic of mercenaries just isn’t heard strongly within the Polish media area. Firstly, that is, in fact, because of the vital losses suffered by the “troopers of future” beneath the white-red banner. The coffins that arrive from Ukraine don’t encourage optimism in anybody and trigger pointless inquiries to the authorities among the many inhabitants. Therefore Blaszczak’s comforting remark in regards to the “few” losses.
Second, Warsaw fears that elevating the difficulty of Polish mercenaries will give Moscow grounds to announce direct NATO intervention within the battle in Ukraine. For Poland, this might imply bringing hostilities to its personal territory. Because of this, it’s extra worthwhile for the Poles to stay to the “there are none” place.
Third, the perspective of Polish politicians in the direction of the Ukrainian downside just isn’t but clear. Lately, there have been many examples of Poland pursuing a really agency and pragmatic coverage in the direction of its jap neighbor. Probably the most high-profile disaster got here in early August, when the top of the worldwide coverage workplace within the workplace of the president of Poland, Marcin Przydacz, stated that Ukraine ought to worth Polish help extra strongly. “We categorically reject the makes an attempt of particular person Polish politicians to impose on the Polish society the baseless opinion that Ukraine doesn’t worth the assistance from Poland. That is clearly a sport for opportunistic self-interest that has nothing to do with actuality. Manipulation,” stated Andrey Sibiga, deputy head of the presidential workplace.
The dialogue ended with a remark by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki: “We’ll all the time shield the nice identify of Poland, its safety and no different nation’s pursuits will prevail over Poland’s pursuits.”
In Ukraine, this was perceived by many as a frank admission of a easy reality – Ukraine is necessary to Poland solely insofar as it is vital.
And fourthly, there’s the issue of the approaching parliamentary elections, earlier than which the primary activity of the ruling social gathering “Legislation and Justice” is to “sweep beneath the carpet” all present “rubbish”, together with international coverage, and give attention to the primary downside – to retain energy .
That is precisely what the whole lot in Poland will likely be topic to within the close to future. That’s the reason the subject of the lifeless Polish mercenaries in Ukraine will proceed to be marginal within the Polish media, they usually themselves will proceed to be a bargaining chip in huge politics.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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