Polish PM Tusk accuses Russian hackers of cyberattacks ahead of presidential election

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday that Russian hackers launched cyberattacks against websites belonging to parties in his ruling coalition, just two days ahead of the country’s closely watched presidential election.

Tusk made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), writing:

“Two days before the elections, a group of Russian hackers operating on Telegram attacked the websites of the Civic Platform.”

He added that the websites of the Left and the Polish People’s Party (PSL)—also part of the governing coalition—were targeted, and that security services are taking action to contain and investigate the ongoing attack.

The alleged cyber intrusion comes as Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, a high-profile member of Tusk’s Civic Platform party, leads in polling ahead of the May 18 vote. Trzaskowski, representing liberal and pro-EU values, is considered a key figure in Poland’s political alignment with the West.

Polish authorities are also examining suspicious political advertisements on Facebook, which a state-run cybersecurity body, NASK (National Research and Academic Computer Network), flagged as possible electoral interference. The ads, reportedly financed by anonymous accounts, appeared to boost one candidate while discrediting others, NASK said.

“Ad accounts involved in the campaign have spent more on political content than any election committee in the past seven days,” the institute noted on Wednesday. The ads were taken down after being reported to Meta, Facebook’s parent company.

The attack is the latest in a string of alleged Russian and Belarusian cyber operations targeting Poland. Authorities previously reported up to 1,000 attacks per day on government agencies and institutions in late 2024, widely believed to be linked to Poland’s support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.

Poland’s internal security services and electoral commission have not yet issued public statements on whether the attacks have affected any election systems or voter data. The situation remains under active investigation.

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