Medvedev calls Poland's Constitutional Tribunal dispute a 'constitutional coup' and compares it to Ukraine

In brief

• Russian officials and state-linked media are using the Constitutional Tribunal standoff in Poland to push a narrative of an attempted seizure of power.
• The New York Times reports the Kremlin aims to weaken Donald Tusk's government and international support for Kyiv.
• Political scientist Roman Baecker says Moscow is trying to inflame emotions in the dispute.

Kremlin voices seize on Warsaw's court standoff

Moscow has moved quickly to use the crisis around Poland's Constitutional Tribunal. After police were sent on Friday to secure the court's building, Russian officials and state-linked media began describing the episode as an attempted seizure of power. Former president Dmitry Medvedev called the situation in Poland a "constitutional coup" (Tak Rosja czerpie z chaosu wokół TK w Polsce. "Podsyca spór" – Onet) (Kryzys wokół TK. Rosyjskie media piszą o "próbie zamachu stanu" – Wirtualna Polska).

Maidan comparison

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova went further. She wrote on Telegram that Poland's constitutional order had been violated overnight and a state body seized by force, and she set President Karol Nawrocki's words against the Maidan protests in Ukraine, accusing Polish politicians of hypocrisy (Kreml wykorzystuje spór o TK. Zacharowa uderza w elity – Wirtualna Polska). Russian outlet RIA Novosti ran a first commentary headlined as Poland shifting from war with Russia to civil war (Rosja z satysfakcją obserwuje konflikt w Polsce. Propaganda uderza w rząd – Bankier.pl).

Alleged aim: weakening Tusk and support for Kyiv

The New York Times reported that the Kremlin is trying to use the row to weaken Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-European, pro-Ukrainian government and undermine international backing for Kyiv, working alongside far-right figures in Europe (Rosja podsyca konflikt wokół TK. Moskwa znalazła sposób, by uderzyć w rząd Tuska – Rzeczpospolita) (Media: Rosja gra kryzysem wokół TK. Amerykanie wskazują na jasny cel – Wirtualna Polska). Political scientist Roman Baecker of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń said Russia was trying to inflame emotions in the hope that one side would eventually ask Moscow for help (Politolog zwraca uwagę na taktykę Rosji ws. TK. "Zadziwiająco podobne" – Dziennik.pl). Tusk himself spoke of Russian bots spreading content online.

Far-right reactions

European right-wing politicians also commented on the dispute, and their remarks were amplified in the same coverage. Czech outlet iDNES wrote that the crisis had united the Polish opposition ahead of next year's election, and that Russian propaganda had seized on it quickly (Kolaps, jako Majdan! Soudní krize v Polsku zburcovala Kreml i proruské síly – iDNES.cz).

What comes next

The dispute over control of the tribunal remains unresolved, and the commentary is still rising. Whether Moscow's narrative gains traction in Poland or elsewhere in Europe was not yet clear at the time of reporting.

Read also

• Co sąsiedzi piszą o Polsce – 2 listopada 2026
• Standoff at Poland's Constitutional Tribunal deepens as police, politicians and the Church weigh in