Poland accuses Russia of trying to interfere in presidential election
Election campaign in Poland (Photo: Jarek Praszkiewicz/EPA)

Poland said it had faced an unprecedented attempt by Russia to interfere in the presidential election, which is scheduled to take place on May 18. The spread of disinformation combined with hybrid attacks on the country's critical infrastructure was the main reason, Reuters reported .

"During the current presidential election in Poland, we are faced with an unprecedented attempt to interfere in the electoral process from the Russian side," said Krzysztof Gawkowski, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister of Digital Affairs.

According to him, the intervention is taking place through the spread of disinformation combined with hybrid attacks on Poland's critical infrastructure "with the aim of paralyzing the normal functioning of the state."

Gawkowski said that Polish water and sewage companies, thermal power plants and government agencies have been attacked, and that Russia's involvement in such attacks has more than doubled this year.

"Today in Poland, during every minute of my speech, approximately a dozen incidents were recorded against critical infrastructure," he said.

Gawkowski linked the increase in Russian attacks to Poland's role as a hub for aid to Ukraine. He said the country is currently on heightened alert for intervention, especially after Romania canceled its presidential election in December over alleged Russian interference.

The Russian Embassy in Warsaw refused to comment to the agency on this issue and recommended asking Gavkovsky "to provide evidence of his insinuations."

Earlier in April, Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused foreign actors of a cyberattack on the IT systems of his Civic Platform party.

Warsaw and its allies also claim that Moscow is behind arson and sabotage across Europe.

  • On April 29, the French Foreign Ministry accused the Russian military intelligence (GRU) of a series of cyberattacks on public and private companies using the APT28 hacking group, also known as Fancy Bear.
  • On May 5, the pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16) claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on the official websites of Romanian government institutions on the day of voting in the first round of the presidential election on May 4.