A Polish citizen dubbed a “traitor” by domestic media for his pro-Moscow propaganda activities has been killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
The local authority of Russia’s southwestern Kursk region confirmed the death of Jerzy Tyc on Sept. 21, though he had been listed as missing since around June 2023.
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Tyc was a former Polish soldier who left the army in 1989 with the collapse of the communist system. He went on to found an association dedicated to the restoration of Red Army monuments and graves in Poland.
For this and other pro-Russian activities in Poland, Tyc was awarded the Russian state distinction ‘In Memory of the Heroes of the Motherland’ in 2020 by Russia’s then defense minister, Sergei Shoigu.
He had lived in Belarus and Russia for almost 10 years and was a favorite of the state propaganda apparatus, appearing on channels such as RT to comment on the situation in his country of origin.In his media appearances, Tyc routinely praised Russia’s policies while pouring scorn on Poland and Ukraine.The Kursk region authorities posted on the Telegram app that Tyc had been “literally forced” to leave Poland after running his ‘Kursk Memorial Association’ under “strong pressure from the Russophobic Warsaw authorities.”Moscow has often reacted to criticism of and efforts to counteract its propaganda activities by throwing around accusations of “Russophobia”.
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‘Espionage activities’
Tyc’s wife, Anna (a.k.a. Anastazja) was arrested and expelled from Poland in 2018 for “findings related to espionage activities,” according to the country’s Internal Security Agency (ABW).
When she tried to appeal the decision, she received financial assistance from PravFond, a Russian fund used by the Kremlin to support activities abroad that serve its interests, Polish investigative journalism site Frontstory reported. PravFond is widely considered by European security agencies to be a front for Russian intelligence.
Despite EU sanctions proscribing such transactions, PravFond granted Anna Tyc almost €8,000 for legal representation in Poland and a further €4,000 to help pay for a case before the European Court of Human Rights. Both legal challenges failed.
The exact time and circumstances of Jerzy Tyc’s death remain unknown, except that he was killed during “military activity in Ukraine,” according to the Kursk authorities, who said he had died “fighting the neo-Nazis,” as Tyc used to call the Ukrainians.
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