WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A fake news report on Poland’s National News Agency saying Prime Minister Donald Tusk was mobilizing 200,000 men starting July 1 was likely the work of Russian-sponsored hackers and aimed at disrupting the upcoming European Parliament elections. , authorities said.
“Everything indicates that we are dealing with a cyber attack from the Russian side,” said Krzysztof Gawkowski, a deputy prime minister who also holds the Digital Affairs portfolio. “The aim is disinformation in the run-up to the elections (for the European Parliament) and paralysis of society.”
Russian authorities did not immediately respond to the allegations.
The unprofessional-looking “urgent” report appeared on the Polish news agency PAP, the country’s national telephone service, at 2pm (1200 GMT) on Friday.
Eight minutes later, the agency “killed” or deleted the report and then issued a statement saying it was not the source of the article. The cyber attack was repeated and the fake news was pushed to the wire again and killed again. .
Security officials said their experts were working to determine the source of the cyberattack and also protect PAP from further attempts to publish fake news on its systems.
The government says Poland, which supports Ukraine in its war with Russia, is the target of a hybrid war led by the intelligence services of Russia and Belarus. Polish authorities say the techniques used include sending migrants to the border from Belarus; sabotage, including attempted arson; espionage; and cyber attacks on government offices.
Gawkowski said Poland’s sensitive infrastructure is constantly exposed to various types of incidents and cyber attacks.
The European Parliament elections will take place in Poland on June 9.