Bihus.Info: Ukrainian woman with Defense Ministry honors organizes paid rallies in Poland

Rallies are being held in various Polish cities to promote Kremlin narratives about Ukraine, with a Ukrainian woman who received the then-Minister of Defense's award last December among the organizers Denys Shmyhal. This is stated in the investigation Bihus.Info.

In recent months, several Polish cities have hosted rallies with the participation of Ukrainians, which were formally aimed at "fighting corruption in Ukraine." But in fact, these actions reproduced rhetoric favorable to Russian propaganda. Participants criticized the Ukrainian government, in particular President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Similar events took place in Warsaw and Wroclaw. Bihus.Info identified several participants. These are Ukrainian citizens from Kharkiv, Kropyvnytskyi and the temporarily occupied Volnovakha in Donetsk Oblast, who probably now live in Poland.

The journalists found out that the rallies were carefully planned: the flags look like they were handed out by someone before the rally, and the posters are neatly written out as if they were created by one person. In addition, the rallies have hosts and prepared texts.

In addition, some of the participants traveled from city to city and attended rallies in different cities. The journalists also paid attention to posts in open Telegram chats for Ukrainians in Poland. They invited people to "earn extra money" by offering $100 for participating in a rally "against corruption in Ukraine." The messages were published in Russian, and after questions about the organizers - were deleted.

One of Bihus.Info's interlocutors confirmed on condition of anonymity that people were paid for attending the rally. He said that the participants received $200 each, and he said he did not take money because he was going for the idea.

One of the key figures in this story is Victoria Dotsenko. The woman took an active part in the rallies, was a speaker, and in a telephone conversation with journalists called herself one of the organizers. However, she refused to answer Bihus.Info's questions about the rallies, although she initially promised to do so.

The interlocutor also named Ihor Sayenko, who has lived in Poland for more than 30 years, as one of the organizers. He does not hide the fact that he gathers Ukrainians for rallies. But he denied that he paid the participants.

The journalists learned that Dotsenko, among other things, heads the office of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce in Bydgoszcz. In addition, she has charitable foundations in Ukraine and Poland.

The pages of the Polish foundation on social media publish posts about protests and reports on volunteer activities, gratitude and awards. There is a post that in December 2025, Dotsenko received an award from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine "for contributing to defense."

• On December 15, 2025, it became known that in the city of Poznan, two men beat Ukrainians in a tram. The attackers were detained.
• Foreign Minister Sybiha called this incident outrageous and gave instructions to the consuls.