At the beginning of February 2023, a photograph of a billboard with the inscription “To nie nasza wojna”, allegedly taken in the Polish city of Czestochowa, went viral on the Internet. We have verified the authenticity of this photo.

According to the news, the Polish publication na:Temat, citing political activist Leszek Sykulski, reported the appearance of “anti-Ukrainian” advertising billboards on the streets of Czestochowa. The posters, which read “This is not our war,” showed a man in camouflage pants against a background of Ukrainian and Russian flags, with the leg on the Ukrainian side being a prosthetic leg. Sykulski allegedly stated that such billboards would be hung throughout Poland.

The message was accompanied by a photograph of the billboard described above against the backdrop of a major city highway. This information (in some cases without a photo) was disseminated on the night of February 5 “News» «Komsomolskaya Pravda", "Ren-TV» «Gazeta.ru", Pravda.ru, Lenta.ru and other Russian media. It was also shared by large Telegram channels “Bullet", "Work, brothers!", "Ukraine.ru","Reports of the New Russia militia" And "Russian newspaper | News"

Indeed, on February 2, the Polish information resource na:Temat appeared article with the headline "This is not our war." A former man of Macierewicz (ex-Minister of Defense of Poland - Ed.) is starting an anti-Ukrainian campaign.” The text talked about the initiative of local activist Leszek Sykulski, who decided to campaign against Poland being drawn into the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The article contained a link to one posted on January 31 tweet Sykulsky with a photograph already familiar to us and the caption “This is NOT our war! Soon such billboards will be all over Poland. #PolishRuchAntywar I invite you to the grand opening in Częstochowa this Friday.”

From the text of the tweet, in the absence of additional data, one can indeed conclude that the billboard appeared in the city of Częstochowa, and on Friday, February 3, the grand opening of either the billboard itself or similar banners will take place. However, studying the information using the hashtag #PolskyRuchAnywojenny allows us to conclude that under the grand opening (in the original the word was used inauguraja) meant past On February 3, in Częstochowa, the founding congress of an organization called the “Polish Anti-War Movement” took place. The next day Leszek Sykulski shared on his Twitter with a video from the event. As can be seen from the footage, the participants in the initiative oppose the “Americanization of Poland.”

As for Leszek Sykulski himself, in recent years in Poland he known primarily by promoting Russian pro-government political narratives. Some programs on his YouTube channel are dedicated to the Russian philosopher and political scientist Alexander Dugin, and in 2019 they even met, which Sykulsky talked about on his social networks. Sykulsky’s propaganda activities were repeatedly subjected to criticism by Polish officials. Tellingly, the website of the “Polish Anti-War Movement” was published just a few days after the congress. blocked.

As for the location of the billboard, the same photo with the caption “Free outdoor billboard mockup” is easy to find on the website mediamodifier.com. In place of the template on the shield, you can insert your photo directly on the website. Under the picture it says: “What kind of city is this, you ask? This is Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The photo here was taken on the main road during rush hour." Moreover, the layout was published, according to the signature, on November 2, 2016. Judging by Leszek Sykulski's Twitter, he planned use the mentioned image with the Russian and Ukrainian flags as a basis for future billboards and other paraphernalia.

On February 6, our colleagues from the Georgian publication “Myth detector» We contacted the representative of the municipal authorities of Częstochowa, Włodimierz Tutai. He said that, according to information from the mayor's office, there are no such billboards in the city, and the photograph was not taken in Częstochowa. Journalists from Gazeta Wyborcza clarifiedthat the place where the photograph was taken was one of the sections of the Tartu Highway at the entrance to Tallinn from the airport. See This perspective can be obtained using the Google Street View service. As of February 15, we were unable to find new billboards with the mentioned poster in Częstochowa and the surrounding area.

Thus, a number of media outlets incorrectly interpreted the publication of activist Leszek Sykulski as a message about a billboard already placed in the city of Częstochowa. Note that the image of another billboard with a propaganda poster is also published Sykulsky on January 31 and also created on the basis of stock template, did not gain such popularity on the Internet.

Cover photo: Twitter