The Swedish government said Russian state-linked hackers attempted to disrupt operations at one of Sweden's thermal power plants last year. Sweden said that although the hackers were not successful, hybrid attacks beyond cyberspace are becoming increasingly dangerous.
Sweden's Civil Defense Minister Karl-Oskar Bolin told a press conference on Wednesday that the attempted attack occurred in early 2025 and attributed the incident to hackers “with ties to Russian intelligence and security services.”
“Pro-Russian groups that previously carried out denial-of-service attacks are now attempting devastating cyberattacks against European organizations,” Bolin said, as quoted by Bloomberg.
Bolin did not name the plant, but said the attack was blocked “due to built-in protection mechanisms.” The minister said the latest cyber attack showed “more dangerous and reckless behavior” on the part of the hackers.
A Russian government spokesperson did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment.
This is the latest known attack on critical infrastructure linked to Russian hackers in recent years, as government hackers increasingly target energy and water systems with the aim of causing disruption to real-world public services.
Prior to the attack on Sweden, Russia had been accused of trying to take down part of Poland's power grid in December 2025. Earlier that year, Russian hackers were forced out of the country's computer systems after they briefly hijacked a dam in Norway, opening the floodgates and spilling millions of gallons of water.
In early January 2024, a cyber attack on the municipal energy company in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv left hundreds of apartments without heating for two days in sub-zero temperatures. Researchers said there was also evidence that the hackers were operating from Russia, but they could not confirm that attribution.
Prior to the recent hack, Russia was blamed for a cyberattack that caused widespread disruption to Ukraine's power grid in 2015.