On Tuesday, May 27, in Warsaw, a young Ukrainian man unexpectedly intruded on a live television broadcast after the end of a press conference with police and journalists. The press conference focused on the attack on President Karol Nawrocki’s home and the arrests of individuals involved in a wave of false reports targeting media and politicians. It was at the end of this briefing that a young Ukrainian unexpectedly spoke up and made an appeal to Poles.
As he later reported on Instagram, he noticed a group of media and decided to spontaneously address Poles and the public.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Oleksandr Shevchenko and I’m from Ukraine,” he began.
Surprise was evident on the faces of those present, but no one interrupted. Television stations, including Telewizja Republika, continued their live coverage, focusing their cameras on the Ukrainian.
— I see all of Polish television here now, even the “American BBC” (the BBC is British television). I have one request from all Ukrainians who now live in Poland, work, and pay taxes. To the entire Polish nation and to Poles…
He then appealed to Poles not to direct aggressive and offensive slogans towards Ukrainians.
“This isn’t okay. This isn’t friendly. We are brothers and sisters,” he said.
Finally, he emphasized that, in his opinion, it is Russia that is trying to divide Poles and Ukrainians.
“They don’t want us to be friends,” he added.
After his speech, he thanked everyone and walked away from the cameras.
The recording quickly began circulating on social media. Some Ukrainian commenters expressed satisfaction that someone had publicly addressed the problem of growing aggression against Ukrainians. Others, however, claimed that his behavior was embarrassing.
Oleksandr himself said later Eastern News:
— “I wanted to say it in a good way. These are the words that many Ukrainians want to say today.”
Source: Nowiny Wschodnie
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Journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Nowiny Wschodnie, a news platform followed by more than 140,000 people on social media. A graduate in Journalism and Social Communication, he has been co-creating and developing Nowiny Wschodnie since 2017. He gained professional experience working with local and international media.
He specializes in fact-checking, countering disinformation and propaganda, and information security. His work focuses on Poland, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Polish-Ukrainian relations. He is also the founder of a non-profit organization working in the fields of integration and intercultural dialogue.
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