The Polish government accused Russia of launching a cyberattack on the country’s power grid last month that they claim nearly caused a nationwide blackout.
Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka told reporters on Tuesday that the attack sought to disrupt communication between renewable energy installations and power distribution operators in late December.
According to Motyka, the incident marked a shift from earlier cyberattacks that are said to have targeted conventional power plants or high-voltage transmission networks.
Poland’s Digital Affairs Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski later told local radio that the country came “very close to a blackout” before the cyberattack was thwarted.
“We have not experienced an attack like this before,” he was quoted as saying. “For the first time, various locations were targeted simultaneously.”
Gawkowski equated the cyberattack to “digital tanks” and claimed Moscow was behind it.
“Everything indicates that we are dealing with Russian sabotage, because it must be called by its name, which was supposed to destabilize the situation in Poland,” he said.
Russia has not responded to the allegations.
Poland’s Digital Affairs Ministry has attributed a significant portion of around 170,000 cyber incidents reported in the first three quarters of 2025 to Russian state-backed actors.
Poland is a close ally of neighboring Ukraine and has become a key hub for delivering humanitarian and military aid to the war-torn country.
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