Denmark Blames Russia for Cyberattacks on Water Utility and Election Websites
Danish authorities have publicly accused Russia of carrying out cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in Denmark in 2024 and 2025, including attacks on a water utility that caused physical damage and on government websites during local elections. This marks the first time Copenhagen has formally attributed such incidents to Moscow.
According to Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service, a pro‑Russian hacking group known as Z‑Pentest conducted a cyberattack in late 2024 against the Tureby Alkestrup Waterworks in Køge, south of Copenhagen. The attackers manipulated water pressure systems, leading to burst pipes and temporary disruptions to household water supplies. Approximately 50 households were without water for seven hours, and another 450 homes experienced outages for around one hour.
In a separate incident, another pro‑Russian group called NoName057(16) carried out distributed denial‑of‑service (DDoS) attacks against several Danish websites in November 2025, just before regional and local elections. These attacks overwhelmed servers and disrupted access to election‑related information. Both groups are reported to have links to the Russian state.
Denmark summoned the Russian ambassador in response to the findings, and Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen condemned the attacks as “completely unacceptable.” Officials described the actions as part of Russia’s broader hybrid warfare strategy aimed at creating insecurity and penalizing countries that support Ukraine.
Jan Hansen, head of the Tureby Alkestrup Waterworks, noted that the attack succeeded because the company had upgraded to a less secure, lower‑cost cybersecurity system. He warned other organizations against cutting costs on cybersecurity and recommended they secure cyber insurance.
Torsten Schack Pedersen, Denmark’s Minister of Resilience and Preparedness, said the attacks caused limited physical damage but demonstrated that hostile forces are capable of disrupting critical societal functions.