Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk and former prime minister who heads the centrist Civic Coalition bloc stated that a substantial gathering of protesters, numbering in the "hundreds of thousands," assembled in central Warsaw on Sunday.

The demonstration aimed to rally and mobilize the electorate in anticipation of the critical general elections scheduled for October 15.

A city official revealed that the anti-government rally in Warsaw has amassed a million protesters thus far.

"When I see these hundreds of thousands of smiling faces, I have a good feeling that the breakthrough moment in the history of our homeland is coming," Tusk said. "A great change is taking place -- this is a mark of the great Polish revival."

Attendees started assembling in Warsaw during the early hours of the day, with individuals coming from various parts of Poland to unite in protest against the government.

Many thousands on the streets of Warsaw today supporting the opposition coalition in their “Million Hearts March” led by Donald Tusk.

The election here in Poland in two weeks is being fought in a bitter campaign between the two sides. pic.twitter.com/wSdH9pkau7

— Jack Parrock (@jackeparrock) October 1, 2023

The governing party, often in conflict with the EU and accused of eroding the rule of law, maintains a strong lead in surveys, garnering approximately 35% of voter support according to IBRiS polling.

In contrast, the Civic Coalition opposition alliance has consistently held the second position, with a 27% voting intention in the IBRiS poll.

However, as per Tusk, internal polls conducted by his party indicate that the Law and Justice party's lead has reduced to merely a two-percentage-point margin.

"The opportunity is within reach, nothing has been decided yet," Tusk told his supporters earlier this week as he addressed crowds in Elblag, northern Poland, promising to hold the authorities accountable following the vote.

"Many of them will go to jail for blatant theft, for violating the law and the constitution," he said.

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The nations of Poland, Slovakia, and others located in Central and Eastern Europe, who have been fierce advocates of Ukraine in the conflict, are now facing re-election challenges and other domestic matters - making support for Ukraine fade away little by little. 

The most recent and shocking instance is Poland announcing on Wednesday that new weapon deliveries to Ukraine are stopping, possibly escalating the already-tense dispute between both nations regarding grain shipments, which Poland claims is undercutting local production from Polish farmers.

In an appearance on the Polish television channel Polsat, Prime Minister Maeusz Morawiecki said: “We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons.” 

Ivan Krastev, chair of the Center for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Bulgaria, stated, “Ukraine realizes that in the last months, they’re not bordering Poland, they’re bordering Polish elections,” adding that “the votes of a hundred thousand Polish farmers are more important for the government than what is going to be the cost for Ukraine. And we’re going to see this happening in many places.”

On September 21, the Prime Minister of Poland announced that they would cease sending weaponry to Ukraine in order to prioritize their own defense. The decision came shortly after Warsaw called in Ukraine's ambassador, leading to a dispute over grain exports.

Responding to a question on whether Warsaw would maintain its support for Kiev despite the disagreement over grain exports, Morawiecki said: "We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons."

Poland has consistently stood as a strong ally of Ukraine since Russia launched its special military operation in February 2022. Poland also serves as one of Kiev's primary weapons sources, and has provided extensive state assistance to the approximately one million Ukrainian refugees it hosts.

The conflict between Warsaw and Kiev stemmed from Poland's decision to prohibit the import of Ukrainian grain, a measure taken to safeguard the welfare of its agricultural sector. These tensions have escalated in the past few days.

On September 25, the US State Department announced that it would extend a $2 billion loan to Poland in order to bolster the country's ongoing efforts to modernize its defense capabilities.

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