A Polish government official said the country has been hit by a “complex disinformation operation” that aims to weaken its alliance with the United States, and is consistent with previous Russian cyberattacks.
“Poland has been a target of Russian propaganda for many years. Lately, these kinds of efforts are intensifying more and more”, Stanislaw Zaryn, spokesman for the head of the country’s security services, said on Saturday.
He also said that cyberattackers posted a fake letter in the name of the rector of the War Studies Institute in Warsaw calling on Polish soldiers to fight the “American occupation”. The letter’s message was reported on news portals.
“The content of the letter matched the main narratives Russian propaganda constantly pushes against Poland and the United States”, Zaryn tweeted.
Russia, who did not immediately comment, has rejected involvement in disinformation campaigns in the past.
Zaryn said that Polish authorities believe the purpose of the attacks is to undermine the morale of Polish soldiers and stir up anti-American sentiment.
He added that Russia using the coronavirus crisis to persuade the West to lift sanctions imposed over Russian activity in Ukraine. US soldiers were deployed to Poland and other parts of NATO’s eastern flank after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
