In Poland, number of reports of crimes against Ukrainians has increased by more than 30% in six months, - Rzeczpospolita
In Poland, 180 reports of hate crimes against Ukrainian citizens were recorded in the first half of 2026. If the current trend continues, the number of such reports could rise to approximately 360 by the end of the year, which would be more than 30% higher than last year’s figure.
According to Censor.NET, which cites the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, this information was provided by the Polish National Police Headquarters.
According to the publication, Ukrainians filed 267 reports of hate crimes with the police in 2024, and 275 in 2025. In the first six months of 2026 alone, 180 such reports have already been filed.
At the same time, the Polish police emphasize that these figures refer specifically to reports filed, not to confirmed crimes. Data on how many cases were officially classified as hate crimes following an investigation is still being compiled.
A recent incident in Bielsko-Biała, where a 54-year-old man verbally abused two 11-year-old Ukrainian girls on a city bus, sparked a widespread debate. The assailant was detained and charged with public insult on national grounds.
In recent months, other incidents of aggression against Ukrainians have also made headlines in Poland, including an attack on three Ukrainian teenagers in Warsaw, a campaign to harass a Ukrainian employee at Poznań University of Economics, and the appearance of anti-Ukrainian banners near Poznań.
Sociologist Jacek Kucharczyk believes that official statistics do not reflect the true scale of the problem, since some victims do not report incidents to law enforcement out of fear. In his view, the rise in aggression is fueled by radical political rhetoric, an atmosphere of hostility on social media, and Russian disinformation campaigns.
The authors of the article also cite a study by the Union of Ukrainians in Poland, according to which anti-Ukrainian sentiments tend to ebb and flow and are intensified by political campaigns, historical disputes, and Russian information operations. The publication cites a renewed intensification of the debate surrounding the Volhynia tragedy and a series of diplomatic disputes between Kyiv and Warsaw as additional factors contributing to the deterioration of sentiment this year.
