Major Ukrainian government websites hit by ‘massive cyberattack’

Several key Ukrainian government websites were taken offline on Friday, authorities said, in a large-scale cyberattack that came amid growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine’s Western allies.

“Following a massive cyber attack, the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of other government agencies are temporarily unavailable,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told AFP.

The Ministry of Education wrote on Facebook that its website was down due to a “global (cyber)attack” that took place overnight.

The cabinet website and the Ministry of Emergencies were also targeted in the attack, with services later restored to the government site.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility and Kiev did not specify who might have been responsible, but Ukraine has blamed Russians with Kremlin ties for previous attacks.

“Our specialists are already working on restoring the functioning of computer systems, and the cyber police have opened an investigation,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier Friday, the Foreign Ministry website displayed a message in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish.

“Ukrainians! All your personal data…has been deleted and cannot be restored. All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect the worst.”

“It’s for your past, your present and your future,” he said, mentioning two ultra-nationalist organizations in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Education said authorities, including the SBU security service and cyberpolice, were working to resolve the issue.

Moscow-linked Russian hackers have repeatedly been accused of cyber attacks against Ukrainian government websites and infrastructure in the past.

The attack comes as tensions between Russia and the West are soaring over Ukraine, a former Soviet country and close ally of the United States and Europe.

The West has accused Russia of deploying tanks, artillery and around 100,000 troops to Ukraine’s war-torn eastern border in recent weeks, in what NATO says is preparations for an invasion.

Moscow says it has no intention of invading Ukraine.

In December, Russia unveiled proposals to contain the United States and NATO in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, saying the US-led alliance should not admit Ukraine or Georgia as new members.

This week, the United States and its NATO allies held talks with Russia in an attempt to ease tensions, but all three rounds of negotiations – in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna – proved fruitless.

On Thursday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow saw no reason to hold a new round of security talks with the West following the lack of progress.

Ryabkov also said he did not rule out the possibility that Moscow could deploy forces to its allies, Venezuela or Cuba, if diplomacy fails.

In 2020, the United States in October accused six Russians of carrying out cyberattacks against the Ukrainian power grid, the 2017 French elections and the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The then Justice Ministry said the six were current or former members of the GRU – Russian military intelligence and were also accused of masterminding a malware attack called “NotPetya” which infected the computers of companies around the world, causing nearly a billion dollars in losses.