Russian Cyberattack Hits Polish State News Agency

The Polish state news agency, PAP, is suspected of having experienced a cyberattack from Russian hackers on Friday, May 31, following the emergence of false articles about military mobilization in its news feed. The Minister of Digital Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, stated that indications suggest the attack came from Russia. The attack is being investigated by special services, including the Homeland Security Agency.

Warsaw has repeatedly accused Moscow of trying to destabilize Poland for its role in providing military assistance to Ukraine, a charge Russian officials have denied. The Russian embassy in Warsaw said it was not aware of the incident and declined to comment further.

Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, wrote on platform X that this very dangerous hacker attack describes Russia's destabilization strategy ahead of European elections. A fake article that appeared on the PAP newswire a few days before the European Parliament election, stated that Tusk would mobilize 200,000 people to fight in Ukraine.

The fake article appeared twice on Friday, 14.00 and 14.20, and was withdrawn after each appearance. After the first withdrawal, the article was re-published. PAP stated that it was investigating the conditions surrounding this incident.

"We have identified the source of the access. We have secured this route," Justyna Wojteczek, vice editor-in-chief of PAP, told Polsat News.

The Polish state-run National Research Institute (NASK) earlier on May 8 stated that Russian cyber spies had targeted government-owned networks and recommended network administrators to verify whether their employees were under attack.