Elections in Poland this weekend, pro-Kremlin actors amplifying negative sentiment about Ukrainian refugees ⬇️ 🇵🇱 As Poland prepares for its presidential runoff this weekend, Ukrainians—the largest group of foreigners in the country—have become a central focus of both political debate and online narratives. A new ISD Investigation reveals efforts from Russia-aligned information operations, such as Operation Overload and Pravda/Portal Kombat, to use this moment to exploit negative sentiment toward Ukrainian refugees through a cross-platform campaign involving impersonation, AI-generated content and coordinated amplification. With an estimated 1.5 to 1.7 million Ukrainians living in Poland, migration has become a key issue in the election. Both remaining candidates have proposed measures that would limit benefits or access to public services for Ukrainian refugees – leaving the debate open for exploitation by foreign influence actors and underscoring how external efforts can intersect with domestic political debates. Our findings –and recommendations for how these threats could be better mitigated–are outlined below. (fb)

Deadline tomorrow! We're hiring for our Germany & US teams 🚨 ISD is looking for 2 Analyst & Editorial Manager hybrid roles to work with our Comms and Research teams. If you have expertise in extremism, hate, info ops or digital policy—and a sharp editorial eye—apply below. (fb)