At the end of March 2024, the Russian media and Telegram channels reported that a senior military man from Poland was killed as a result of the Russian Army missile strike. We checked the validity of such publications.

On March 26, Telegram began to apply that Polish General Adam Marchak died in the city of Yar’s watches located near Bakhmut, on which the Russian military allegedly inflicted a missile blow. According to TGSTAT, on that day, about 2 million views collected posts on this subject, at least the same amount - day later. Among the largest channels who told about the death of Markchak as a result of an attack on the watch, - “”The world of Mikhail Onufrienko"(353,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), Colonelcassad (349 000), Voblya (294,000), "Uncle Glory"(232 000),"Belarusian security officer 🇧🇾"(141 000),"Pool N3"(110 000),"Mishovets Yegor"(101 000) and"Tucker Carlson for Russia"(100,000). Some bloggers, for example ""Unofficial Bezosonov”(384,000 views), in their publications only made unambiguous hints:“ All these messages appeared after the news about the hit of the Russian ISCANDER Russian OTRK on the Bunker in the area of the Yar, where NATO officers were, including senior US and Poland officers ”(here and then the author’s spelling and punctuation were preserved). A similar post is published in the channel "Distilled on z -war 🇷🇺"(288,000 views). Others, for example Dmitry Vasilet (244,000 views), insisted on the reliability of information about the death of Marchak as a result of the Russian attack: “Officially, of course, the Poles would write fables in the media that the NATO general died from natural reasons, such as a blood clot, or a blood clot, but they would bury him in a closed grave, because after the arrival of the Penanter is not on the other way.” March 28 military Alexander Kotz He commented on the results of the thematic survey, which conducted in his channel: “31 percent of the participants of yesterday’s survey believes that the cause of the sudden death of the Polish general became the crazy“ Iskander ”. 30 percent - that he was stabbed in a drunken fight. In any case, it will be easier for us. Less enemy generals - the Armed Forces of Ukraine will become less controlled. ”

Some pro -Kremlin media, who talked about this story, brought more cautious formulations. For example, Rossiyskaya Gazeta on March 27 Published A note that reported that Marchak “could die as a result of the impact of the operational-tactical missile system (OTRK) Iskander on a buried command station of the Armed Forces in the area of the village of Yar watches”. On the same day on News.ru I went out Publication under the heading “Polish general was destroyed in Ukraine? What is known, where Adam Marchak died. ” The TV channel "Tsargrad", on the site of which appeared The news with the heading “Adam Marchak is dead”: Pan General died “for natural reasons”. After the impact of the Iskander. "

The authors of most of the publications mentioned above do not specify how they became aware of the death of Marchak as a result of a “Iskander” strike in the city of Yar’s clock in the Donetsk region. The Uncle Glory Telegram channel and some others refer to some operational sources, and the blogger Boris Rozhin (aka Colonelcassad)-the data of the anonymous project Ddgeopolitics. The media took a post in the Telegram channel as the basis of their publications "Ukraine.ru"(186,000 views), which, in turn, refers to an anonymous channel IPR 1 (284,000). Its authors write that “the brigade general of Poland Adam Marchak and several more high -ranking NATO officers are suffocated in the underground six -story headquarters, and the coordinates are attached within the Yar Chasov.

The source of information IPR 1 does not call his post, but 18 minutes earlier he replaced publication anonymous channel "NGP RAZVEDKA" (280,000 views). “According to our information, the blow of the ISCK Iskander in the area of N.P. The clock was struck by the deepened command post of the enemy, among other things, the officers of NATO countries, in particular the USA and Poland, were present in the Communist Party. The wounded, whom the enemy managed to pull out, was transported to Poland. Carefully follow the news in the Western media, soon some other general will die in the mountains, fall out of a helicopter in the Oklahkhchyna, or choke on Croasan at breakfast, ”said that post, published on March 26 at 19:33 Moscow time.

The operational command of the Armed Forces of Poland reported the death of Marchak on the same day at 14:04 Moscow time. “With a deep regret, we report that the brigade General Adam Marchak, the chief of staff of the operational command of the EU" Altey "in Mons, died on Tuesday March 26, 2024. The unexpected death of the general came for natural reasons when he was not in the service. <...> We express sincere sympathy and grief to all relatives of Mr. General, ” - It is said In the necrologist. Respiting him Russian news agencies and large media (for example, "RIA Novosti" TASS, RBC, "Kommersant","Gazeta.ru") Neither in these publications, nor later they mentioned that a senior Polish military could die as a result of a Russian blow to the Chop Yar.

How write The Polish media, 52-year-old Marchak, held the post of deputy commander of the operational command of the EU "Altea" since September 2023. This mission created in 2004, it is designed to ensure the implementation Deuton agreements And the overall security in Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with the country's authorities. Headquarters "Altea" located At the same time in Belgian Mons. It was there, according to official statements, that Marchak died.

When the reports that the general actually died in the east of Ukraine began to spread outside the Russian -language segment of the Internet, Polish facts became interested in them. IN Comments For the Fakehunter project, which is part of the PAP news agency, the deputy head of the press service of the operational command of the Armed Forces of Poland Eva Zlotnitsk confirmed that Marchak died of natural reasons in Belgium. Factchera from Konkret24 in the same department directly They said: "All the information that appeared in the media that the brigade General Adam Marchak died in Ukraine is not true."

This can be confirmed thanks to posts of the operational command of the Armed Forces of Poland in social networks. April 5, department Published In Facebook, photos taken during the ceremony of loading the coffin with the body of Marchak to the plane, which was supposed to deliver him from Belgium to his homeland. Four hours later on the same page appeared Pictures, how the coffin was met in Warsaw.

In photographs from both publications, the Polish Air Force Airplane with number 018 is visible from both publications. data The Freedar project follows that the unique identification number of the side is 48D847. "Checked" Tracking The plane by this number through the Adsb.fi service - in the early morning of April 5, he really flew out of Poland, landed in Brussels, stood there for several hours, and then headed towards Warsaw. Markchak buried With military honors six days later in the Polish capital.

It turns out that, according to the mentioned at the beginning of the analysis of Telegram channels, on March 26, the Polish general died as a result of the Iskander Rocket with the Chop Yar missile, and after a week and a half, when the posthumous fate of Markchak, judging by TGSTAT data, absolutely ceased to interest the platform users, the Polish military sent the plane to Belgium to deliver the coffin with the bond A high-ranking military man in their homeland, and at the same time held ceremonies on the runway in Brussels and Warsaw. In such circumstances, the version that a special flight was organized to cover the real circumstances of Marchak’s death seems to be at least unlikely.

Finally, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation did not report on the strikes by the Iskander on the Changes of the Yar on March 26. The only information that can at least somehow fit the described circumstances is published On that day, about noon a daily report. It states that “within a day, the armed forces of the Russian Federation were inflicted on a group blow with high-precision weapons of high-precision marine and ground-based basement and unmanned aerial vehicles on the decision-making centers, SBU facilities, military-industrial complexes, as well as deployment places for Ukrainian wonders and foreign mercenaries.” However, there is no specificity in this statement and it is not possible to verify the reliability of the approval. Moreover, almost identical lengthy formulations can be found in numerous posts of the Russian department (for example, from 21, 22, 23 And March 30), however, after them, Telegram channels did not write about the death of high-ranking military from NATO countries in Ukraine. The Ukrainian media also did not report the strikes on the watch of the Yar on March 26.

Thus, messages of the pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and some Russian media about the death of a Polish general near Bakhmut have no reason. All of them are based either on unnamed or on anonymous sources. Information about the death of Marchak appeared on the verified pages of the Poland Armed Forces in social networks a few hours earlier. The statement of the death of the general in Belgium in these posts is confirmed by independent sources. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation did not report the hit by Iskander missiles on the watch of the Yar on March 26, although he regularly mentions attacks on “foreign mercenaries” in Ukraine.

Most likely, the creators of this story hooked on the words from the obituary of Marchak that the general died "when he was not in the service." This clarification probably means that the military died in non-working hours (late in the evening or in the early morning), however, the Telegram channels saw in this phrase something like “out of service” or “on vacation”. Subsequently, this interpretation overgrown with completely fictitious details about the clock and Iskander and diverged through social networks.

Photo on the cover: Downtwo Operacyjne Rodzajów Sił zbrojnych