In early 2026, Poles’ attitudes toward Ukrainians living in the country reached one of the lowest points in recent years. According to the state-run Center for Public Opinion Research (CBOS), only 29% of respondents express sympathy toward Ukrainians, while 43% declare dislike. Another 25% say they feel neutral.
By comparison, in 2023 — at the peak of solidarity after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — 51% of Poles expressed sympathy and only 17% dislike. The figures then deteriorated steadily: sympathy fell to 40% in 2024 and 30% in 2025.
The number of recorded incidents is rising in parallel. In the first half of 2026, Polish police received 180 reports of ethnically motivated crimes against Ukrainians. That is about 30% more than in the same period last year, according to the newspaper Rzeczpospolita. If the trend continues, the number of such reports could exceed 360 by the end of the year. These figures refer to complaints filed, not necessarily to crimes already proven in court.
High-profile cases include the beating of a Ukrainian couple outside a grocery store in Wrocław in July, an attack on a tram in Poznań in August, and public insults, including against minors. Polish authorities set up specialized prosecution teams for hate crimes; between February and June they sent 283 such cases to court, with Ukrainians as victims in more than 80% of them.
Sociologists and observers link the cooling to several factors: disputes over historical memory, fatigue among part of society over social benefits for Ukrainian refugees and labor migration, and political rhetoric ahead of the 2027 parliamentary elections. In one CBOS poll, 45.4% of respondents named historical disagreements as the main reason for the deterioration in relations, and 36.4% named social benefits.
About 1.5 million Ukrainians live in Poland — the country’s largest foreign community. Many Poles still speak of solidarity and everyday neighborly relations, but the public atmosphere has grown markedly harsher. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called for an end to xenophobic attacks and noted that some assailants feel they have political “cover.” President Karol Nawrocki and opposition right-wing forces more often emphasize grievances toward Kyiv on historical and social issues.
Social tension between Poles and the Ukrainian community is indeed at its highest level in recent years: the polling numbers and police statistics confirm it. At the same time, the two sides remain bound economically and geopolitically — Ukrainians make a notable contribution to Poland’s labor market, and Poland remains one of Ukraine’s key partners.
