Poland has started extraditing Ukrainian men - media manipulation and misleading Telegram channels

On Monday morning, nearly all Ukrainian Telegram channels and media outlets cited a report from the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, stating that Poland had begun extraditing men, who had illegally left Ukraine, back to their country.

Of course, these misleading headlines were inevitably picked up by pro-Russian channels and bloggers as well.

However, it appears that this was a case of manipulation. A closer examination of the original source, which was cited, reveals that the content of the article was distorted.

Part of the responsibility for this misleading news lies with the journalists of the Polish edition themselves, who chose to headline the article in such a manner. The truth is, the headline itself is misleading.

This conclusion can be made by persons who have read the entire article. It begins by discussing the possibility that Poland and other EU countries could face an influx of extradition requests from Ukraine concerning men who departed the country through bribery. It also suggests that some Ukrainians may have already been handed over to Ukraine.

Rzeczpospolita bases its information on the latest extradition statements made by MP David Arakhamia and the President’s representative in the Verkhovna Rada, Fedor Venislavsky. 

The key point of the article revolves around an explanation regarding the extradition issue, provided by Polish police spokesman Mariusz Czarka: 

“To repatriate such individuals, Ukraine is required to issue an international arrest warrant for each of them. If we apprehend such a foreign national, even during routine roadside checks, our KSIP system (National Police Information System) will indicate their status as individuals pursued by the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, as Interpol data is available. We detain the individual and report the case to the prosecutor’s office. It is up to the Polish court to decide whether this individual should be extradited.” 

Regarding those who have already been extradited from Poland to Ukraine, the article’s coverage is limited to a brief paragraph:

“As reported by Rzeczpospolita, based on information from the Polish Border Guard, in accordance with the agreement with Ukraine, expulsion measures have been taken against citizens of Ukraine who engaged in the illicit transportation of undocumented migrants to Europe.”

In other words, the individuals extradited from Poland to Ukraine are NOT the Ukrainian men who departed Ukraine unlawfully with counterfeit disability certificates, but rather those implicated in the illegal trafficking of such individuals