Poland–Russia relations (Polish: Stosunki polsko-rosyjskie, Russian: Российско-польские отношения) have a long and often turbulent history, dating to the late Middle Ages.

[1] One of the earliest known events in Rus'-Polish history dates back to 981, when the Grand Prince of Kiev, Vladimir Svyatoslavich, seized the Cherven Cities from the Duchy of Poland.

In 1054, the internal Christian divide formally split the Church into the Catholic and Orthodox branches separating the Poles from the Eastern Slavs.

In 1018, Svyatopolk the Cursed who fled from Kiev turned for help to the Polish king Bolesław I the Brave, who defeated Yaroslav the Wise in the Battle of the River Bug.

The first option cannot be true due to the fact that the Golden Gate was built in the 1030s, the second is also not confirmed by the results of carbon dating of the sword, which, apparently, was created not earlier than the second half of the 12th century.

Thus, the Polish king, Kazimierz I, concluded an alliance with Yaroslav the Wise in 1042, marrying the first to the sister of the Grand Duke Maria Dobroneg.

The Grand Prince of Kiev, Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, made peace with the Polish king, Bolesław III Wrymouth, who in 1103 married the daughter of Svyatopolk Sbyslav; when in Poland a struggle broke out between Boleslaw III and his brother Zbigniew, the Rus' troops came to the aid of the king and forced Zbigniew to recognize his power.

Many Polish expatriates and volunteers sided with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France in its struggles with the very same powers (Russia, Austria and Prussia) which had partitioned Poland.

Numerous residents of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic also fled across the border to Poland in protest of the First Five-Year Plan's collectivization policies and the Holodomor.

At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Joseph Stalin was able to present his western allies, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, with a fait accompli in Poland.

He had severed relations with the legitimate Polish government-in-exile in London in 1943, but to appease Roosevelt and Churchill he agreed at Yalta that a coalition government would be formed.

The communists held a majority of key posts in this new government, and with Soviet support they soon gained almost total control of the country, rigging all elections.

[20] It subsequently pressured the ruling Polish United Workers' Party and Wojciech Jaruzelski's government into declaring martial law.

[22] Modern Polish–Russian relations begin with the fall of communism – 1989 in Poland (Solidarity and the Polish Round Table Agreement) and 1991 in Russia (dissolution of the Soviet Union).

With a new democratic government after the 1989 elections, Poland regained full sovereignty,[2] and what was the Soviet Union, became 15 newly independent states, including the Russian Federation.

[4] Among the constantly revisited issues is the fact that Poland has moved away from the Russian sphere of influence (joining NATO and the European Union)[2][3] and pursuing an independent politic, including establishing a significant relations with post-Soviet states;[3] for example, Poland was the first nation to recognize Ukraine's independence and Polish support for the pro-democratic Orange Revolution in 2004 against the pro-Russian presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine has resulted in a temporary crisis in Polish–Russian relations.

[3] Occasionally, relations will worsen due to remembrance of uneasy historical events and anniversaries, such as when Polish politicians bring up the issue of Russia apologizing for the '39 invasion, the Katyn massacre (which scholars internationally see as genocide, but Russian officials refer to as a war crime instead),[3][4] or for the ensuing decades of Soviet occupation;[3] in turn, Russians criticize Poles' perceived lack of “thankfulness” for “liberation” from Nazi occupation.

[4] During the 1990s, assistance granted by Polish government and civilian agencies to members of the Chechen separatist movement had been met with criticism by Russian authorities.

[23] In 2009, there had been controversy over the Russian government and state media publishing claims that Poland, which signed non-aggression pacts with Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in the early 1930s, played a role in the partition of Czechoslovakia after the Munich Agreement and that Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan and the Second Polish Republic had allied or intended to ally against the Soviet Union before the Second World War.

[34][35] During the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia, Polish President Lech Kaczyński flew to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi as a show of support to the country.

[39] The Wall Street Journal states that the result of the joint declaration by the Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin and Donald Tusk on Katyn on the verge of the crash, and the aftermath Russia's response has united the two nations, and presents a unique opportunity at a fresh start, ending centuries long rivalry and confrontation.

Russia has created parallel foundation called The Russian-Polish Center for Dialogue and Understanding,[42] which does not fully cooperate with the Polish Centre.

[citation needed] On 30 July 2014, Russia banned the import of Polish fruits and vegetables amidst the Ukraine sanctions war.

[63] After the Russian invasion began on 24 February, Morawiecki tweeted, "We must immediately respond to Russia's criminal aggression on Ukraine Europe and the free world has to stop Putin.

"[64] On 26 February, the Polish Football Association announced that it would not participate in a planned 24 March 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against the Russia in Moscow.

On 9 May, during VE Day, Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreev was splashed with red liquid by Ukrainian protestors of the invasion, as he arrived at a Soviet military cemetery in Warsaw for wreath-laying ceremony.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced the attack and called the protestors "young neo-Nazis", and demanded Poland to organize without delay the wreath-laying ceremony while providing complete security.

[1] In September 2022, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia decided to close entry for Russian citizens with Schengen visas, including those issued by third countries.

[75] In 1996, Poland's Prime Minister Józef Oleksy resigned because of his links to Russian Foreign Intelligence Service agent Vladimir Alganov.

Exercise Zapad in September 2009 practiced a simulated nuclear attack against Poland, suppression of an uprising by a Polish minority in Belarus, and many operations of offensive nature.