Online Video Leads to Arrests

The attack against the Ukrainian couple occurred in the western Poland city of Poznań. A video of the attack was shared and partly recorded by the local politician Andrzej Prendke. In the video, and by Prendke's account, verbal abuse was yelled at a man and a woman riding the tram for speaking Ukrainian. The attack escalated when the male victim was allegedly pushed to the ground and kicked, while the female victim was injured while trying to protect her male partner.

On Sunday, regional police made public that they arrested two men based on video evidence they obtained from the Internet and from security cameras and other operational investigative evidence. The Wielkopolska police reported that they were able to identify the alleged perpetrators by using video evidence from social media and surveillance cameras, as well as through investigative operations. Both men arrested were taken into custody at a local police station, and police reported that the two suspects are both 27 years old, with one of the suspects living in Poznań and the other suspect living near the city.

The police report that they will prepare to charge both suspects under Polish hate crime laws. The police launched the investigation against the suspects, even though there was no formal complaint (report) from either the couple attacked or from witnesses to the attack. The police received awareness of the incident through the circulated video evidence from social media.

Description of The Attack

The video shared by André Prendke shows the male suspect aggressively confronting the male victim of the attack while moving his head within proximity to the male victim and in a threatening manner. There is a part of the video that shows the couple trying to move away from the aggressor(s) when they were allegedly attacked. The male victim of the hate crime was allegedly attacked through physical assault (kicked), and both victims sustained injuries (as a result) during this assault.

According to Mr. Prendke, the quick action of the other passengers on the tram resulted in the couple being physically attacked. Mr. Prendke alleges that other passengers on the tram intervened (attempted to prevent the attack) and were told by the aggressors to "Be on our side, we do this for you" and that they threatened those individuals who attempted to intervene.

Rising Anti-Ukrainian Sentiment

This attack happened as there appears to be a significant increase in the rhetoric and activities by far right political groups in Poland who are espousing and promoting anti-Ukrainian sentiments. Currently, approximately 1.5 million Ukrainians are living in Poland, most of them having entered Poland after the beginning of the full-scale invasion by the Russian military in Ukraine in 2022.

Recent statistical reporting indicates that there has been an increase of nearly 186,000 posts deemed to contain discriminatory speech (hateful speech) against Ukrainian people (individuals) found on social media (Polish language) between August and November 2022. In addition to this, the Ukrainian Ambassador in Poland, at a conference, warned of a growing wave of anti-Ukrainian hatred that is translating into real-world violence because of incidents such as vandalism of a Ukrainian flag outside of an honorary consulate located in Przemyśl.