Alfyorov: Polish order on Ukrainian online auction is provocation with Russian ties

Russian disinformation targeting the Ukrainian-Polish partnership has intensified significantly in recent times; one manifestation of this has been the appearance of the Polish Virtuti Militari Order on a Ukrainian website for collectors.

This was emphasized in an interview with Ukrinform by Oleksandr Alfyorov, head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance.

“It is also worth noting that Russian disinformation has intensified to the maximum today. We are seeing the active spread of anti-Ukrainian narratives. Just look at the story with the Virtuti Militari order… It was an anti-Ukrainian provocation that clearly has a Russian trace,” Alfyorov emphasized.

According to the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, the day after this information appeared, he investigated the situation, contacted the Polish side, and promised that “this copy or forgery will be handed over to the Polish side.”

He suggested that the replica of the original medal, which is in the possession of the family of a Polish officer killed in the so-called Katyn massacre, might have been made by the officer himself—such stories are also known.

“But the matter has been settled: The replica will be handed over to the Polish ambassador to Ukraine,” Alfyorov stated.

The appearance on a Ukrainian online auction of the Virtuti Militari medal, which was said to have belonged to Polish officer Major Juliusz Heintzel, killed by the NKVD near Kharkiv in 1940, Polish politician Rafal Mekler, a representative of the nationalist “Confederation” party who organized the blockade of the border with Ukraine in 2023, reported on March 17.

This information caused a stir in Poland. The Institute of National Remembrance of the Republic of Poland protested the auctioning of this award, calling for its return to the Polish authorities.

Chargé d’Affaires of Poland in Ukraine, Piotr Łukasiewicz, wrote on the social media platform X that the Polish Embassy is verifying the information and is in contact with the relevant Ukrainian authorities. He also urged people to verify the information, as any false posts “could fuel the propaganda of Poland’s opponents.”

As reported, Polish Sejm Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty stated that Russia is conducting targeted anti-Ukrainian campaigns in Poland, but Poles “will not allow themselves to be deceived.”