Warsaw, Poland - In early 2022, as the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began, thousands of Ukrainians (mainly women and children) fled to Poland, where they were greatly sympathetic. Ukrainian flag appears in the window. Polish volunteers rushed to the border with food, diapers, and SIM cards. Some people opened their homes for completely strangers.

In the face of disaster, Poland has not only become Ukraine's logistical lifeline, but also a model of human unity.

Three years later, Poland remains one of Ukraine's most determined allies - a hub for Western arms delivery and a vocal defender of Kiev's interests. But at home, the tone of the Ukrainians has changed.

Nearly one million Ukrainian refugees remain in Poland, with about 2 million Ukrainian citizens among 38 million. Many of them arrived as economic immigrants.

When Poland traveled to the presidential election on May 18, the fatigue of helping the Ukrainians became so obvious that some candidates believed they could win more votes with less help from the Ukrainians.

“The sentiment in Polish society has changed Ukrainian war refugees,” said Piotr Długosz, professor of sociology at Jagilolong University in Krakow, who has studied Central Europe’s views on Ukrainians.

He cited a survey by the Center for Public Opinion Research in Warsaw that showed that Ukrainians fell from 94% to 57% in December 2024 at the beginning of the full Russian invasion in February 2022.

“Many other studies confirm the change in mood,” he said. “At the same time, it should be remembered that helping refugees after the war is a natural moral reflex that should help neighbors in need. More importantly, because the Poles remember the crimes committed by Russians against Poles during and during the World War Two.”

Conservative candidate Karol Nawrocki is the one who turns emotions into campaign politics, he is the candidate chosen by the Law and Justice Party and one of the front-runners.

Law and Justice are still in 2022 in the government, leading the humanitarian response to the crisis, and President Andrzej Duda, supported by the party's conservatives, traveled to Kiev during the war.

As Nawrocki sought to succeed Duda, he expressed conflict with the Ukrainians, stressing the need to defend interests above Polish interests.

Duda, the law and judge have long admired Donald Trump, and Nawrocki (who was popular at the White House on May 1) sometimes uses languages ​​that echo the language of the U.S. president.

"Ukraine does not see us as companions. In many ways, it acts in an indecent and incomparable way," Navoloki said in January.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian leaders need to “rethink” his actions toward his allies after a tense visit to the Oval Office in February.

Last month, Nawrocki swore that if he wins, he would introduce legislation that would prioritize Polish citizens over Ukrainians when waiting for medical services or schools.

"Polish citizens must be preferred," Navoroki said in the campaign video. "Poland first. Poles first."

On the right, candidate Sławomir Mentzen and his Federalist Party have gone beyond that. He blamed the Ukrainians for their excessive expenses and high housing prices and accused them of taking advantage of Poland's generosity.

At the far-right candidate Grzegorz Braun rally on April 30, his supporters climbed onto a balcony in the Biała Podlaska town hall and pulled down the Ukrainian flag that has been hanging there since February 2022 to express solidarity.

The political center is also adjusting.

Donald Tusk's central party, Warsaw mayor RafałTrzaskowski, welcomed Ukrainians to his city in 2022, and he proposed in January that only Ukrainian refugees who "work, live and pay taxes" had obtained "800+" children's "800-year-old children" per-800 Zlot (800 Zlot), per-800 Zlot ($210) in Poland.

These requirements have been tightened recently, with some refugee advocates portraying it as a concession to the far-right narrative.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Vasyl Bodnar in Poland claimed that the Ukrainians had taken more than they had done. He said there were about 35,000 without job support, but all they received was a small part of what Ukrainians contributed to the tax. He noted that around 70,000 Ukrainian-run businesses are now operating in Poland.

"Ukrainians are helping Poland's economy grow," he told the Associated Press.

The president of the Centre for International Relations Małgorzata Bonikowska said tensions arise normally when a large number of people from different cultures suddenly live and work side by side. She added that Poles often find Ukrainians picky or qualifying, which is the wrong way. "But there is still a very stable support to help Ukraine. We really believe that Ukrainians are Europeans and they are like our brothers."

Rafal Pankowski is a sociologist who never again struggled with xenophobia and tracked anti-Ukrainian sentiment from the beginning of the total war. At first, the views of the anti-Ukrainians on the far right were very isolated.

"What happened this year is the harvest time for all those anti-Ukrainian propagandists, and now it's beyond the far right time," he said.

Kateryna is a 33-year-old Ukrainian who has lived in Poland for many years and has come close to changing. In 2022, strangers often greet her with a sympathetic look and "Slava Ukraini" (glory credited to Ukraine).

But last fall, a man carrying a tram cursed her for reading Ukrainian books. This spring, outside the Social Security Office, another man pushed her and screamed, "No one wants you here."

Such incidents are still rare - it is still the norm for Poles and Ukrainians to coexist under friendly conditions. But she felt that such an incident three years ago was unimaginable.

She asked not to use her last name because she was a manager in a company and required a public identification license.

Her parents remained in Ukraine and her brother served in the army. Like many in the region, she believes that Ukrainian resistance ensures Poland's security by keeping Russians out.

She was worried about the current tensions and only served Moscow. “We have to be together,” she said.