Russian group attempting to influence Polish elections detected in Poland

A group inspired by Russian intelligence services has been detected in Poland trying to influence the Polish elections by spreading disinformation. This was stated on Friday by Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, quoted by PAP.

In light of this, he announced that a plan to safeguard the elections would be presented later in January.

“In recent days, a Russian group has been identified—another one that was inspired and prepared by the Russian military intelligence group GRU—whose goal is to influence the Polish elections.  Not just on the Polish political scene, but on Polish elections,” Gawkowski told TVN24.

He explained that it was about “spreading disinformation, false information” and “recruiting people to be content creators in order to destroy the cohesion of the political scene in Poland.”

When questioned about the composition of this group, he responded, “It is a Russian group, but it can recruit different people.”

“Russia is waging a cyberwar with Poland, not a cold one, but already a warm one. We are the most attacked country in the European Union.” The head of the digitization ministry expressed this sentiment.

Poland will hold the first round of the presidential election on May 18 and, if necessary, the second round on June 1.

The latest poll showed that the candidate of the ruling Civic Coalition party, Rafał Trzaskowski, could count on the support of 36.2% of voters.

Karol Navrotsky, who receives support from the opposition Law and Justice, would come in second with 28.8%.