Poland has attributed a massive cyberattack on the country’s power grid to Russia, warning that the Kremlin attempted to cause a blackout.
Warsaw quietly warded off a major assault on the Polish electricity system over the Christmas break, a senior government figure said, drawing comparisions with a similar attack on a Finnish-Estonian power cable one year earlier.
Poland had come “very” close to a blackout, said digital minister Krzysztof Gawkowski.
Such incidents are becoming more frequent. Russian sabotage against Europe’s critical infrastructure has intensified in recent years, according to a 2025 report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
“It was the largest attack on the energy sector in recent years, which could have caused a blackout at the end of December,” Gawkowski told radio station RMF24 on Tuesday. “It was the largest attack on energy infrastructure in years, with the clear aim of causing a blackout.”
Much like last year, when a Russia-linked ship cut a cable connecting Estonia to Finland, all indications pointed to the Kremlin, Gawkowski suggested.
“Everything points to the fact that we are dealing with Russian sabotage,” he said.
He added that the changing nature of warfare, with conflict increasingly moving into the digital realm, meant Russia was already present.
“There is no need to have troops or aircraft on the streets of Poland, or for aircraft to fly in or tanks to roll in, because the digital tanks are already here,” the politician noted.
(aw)