Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zacharowa praised Lenin on Telegram for Polish independence, prompting Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski to reply on X with a sardonic comparison of Putin to a Ukrainian benefactor.
Lenin Praised for Polish Independence
On Monday, December 15, Maria Zacharowa posted on Telegram that Polish people were grateful to Lenin for granting Poland independence throughout the 20th century, calling Lenin the architect of an independent Polish state and suggesting that contemporary Poland might be dubbed “Poland of Vladimir Lenin.” She urged that Warsaw should not forget this legacy.
Sikorski’s Irony on Russian Propaganda
Three days later, Radosław Sikorski replied on the platform X, warning Russian propagandists that Lenin was not only the founder of modern Poland but also “a friend of Polish children.” He recounted Lenin’s act of shaving in Poronin when a school group passed, noting that Lenin could have harmed the children but did not.
Sikorski mirrored the tone, stating that President Putin is a benefactor of Ukraine because “he could drop an atomic bomb on Kyiv and has not.” He concluded that the race for the Nobel Peace Prize would be fierce.
Context: Orbán’s Comments on Frozen Russian Assets
Sikorski’s post followed Viktor Orbán’s remarks that attempts by the European Union to seize frozen Russian assets equate to a “declaration of war.” Orbán argued that seizing €200‑300 billion in frozen Russian money in Belgium without consequences was unprecedented.
In response, Sikorski shared a video of Orbán’s statement and added that “Viktor [Orbán] has earned the Lenin Order.”
