The Danish government reported this Friday (19) that it was the target of “destructive and disruptive” cyberattacks attributed to Russia, directed against critical infrastructure and government websites. The official assessment was released by the Danish Defense Intelligence Service (FE). This is the first time that Copenhagen has publicly attributed this type of attack to the Russian state.
According to the FE, one of the episodes occurred at the end of 2024, when the hacker group Z-Pentest, linked to the Russian State, attacked the company Tureby Alkestrup Waterworks, responsible for water supply in the Køge region, about 35 kilometers south of Copenhagen. The attack altered the pressure in the network, caused the rupture of at least three pipes and left around 50 homes without water for seven hours, while another 450 homes had their supply interrupted for approximately an hour.
According to the Danish intelligence service, Z-Pentest has direct links with Russia’s Main Directorate of Military Intelligence (GRU) and acts as an instrument of what authorities classify as a “hybrid war” conducted by Moscow against Western countries that support Ukraine. The group claims hundreds of attacks on critical infrastructure in different countries, according to data cited by United States authorities.
In another episode, according to FE, the group NoName057(16) carried out denial of service (DDoS) attacks against official websites in Denmark in November this year, on the eve of municipal and regional elections. The actions temporarily compromised the functioning of institutional pages and public communication during the electoral period. Authorities say this group also has links to the Russian state.
In an official statement, the intelligence service stated that “the Russian State uses these groups as instruments in its hybrid war against the West”, with the aim of generating internal insecurity and punishing countries that support Ukraine. In response, the Danish government summoned the Russian ambassador to provide clarification.
Denmark’s Defense Minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, classified the attacks as “completely unacceptable”, while the Minister of Resilience and Preparedness, Torsten Schack Pedersen, stated at a press conference that, although the damage was limited, the episodes demonstrate that “there are forces capable of paralyzing important parts of society”.
According to a survey by Associated Pressthe cases in Denmark are part of a broader set of actions attributed to Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with 147 incidents of sabotage, cyberattacks and interference recorded in European countries. The European Union expressed solidarity with Copenhagen and stated, through its diplomacy, that it will continue to strengthen the cyber resilience of Member States in the face of similar threats.
