Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2025

Ukraine cyber-attack: Russia to blame for hack, says Kyiv

Ukraine cyber-attack: Russia to blame for hack, says Kyiv

The Ukrainian government has accused Russia of being behind Friday's cyber-attack on dozens of official websites.

About 70 government websites were temporarily down, in the largest such attack on Ukraine in four years.

Before the sites went offline, a message appeared warning Ukrainians to "prepare for the worst". Access to most of the sites was restored within hours.

The US and Nato condemned the attack and have offered support to Ukraine. Russia has not commented on the hack.

Experts at Ukraine's information ministry published a timeline of how news of the attack spread, pointing out that Russian media reported it before Ukrainian outlets.

They alleged that the attacks were in response to what they called Russia's failure in its recent talks with Nato over Ukraine.

Ukraine has come under intense pressure from its neighbour, with a build-up of some 100,000 Russian troops near its borders.

Ukraine's SBU security service says in just nine months last year it "neutralised" 1,200 cyber-attacks or incidents.

Nato said it would soon be signing an agreement with Ukraine on enhanced cyber cooperation, which would give it access to the alliance's malware information sharing platform.

The White House says it it will provide Ukraine with whatever support it needs to recover from the attack.

At the start of Friday's attack, a message on the hacked websites was posted in three languages, Ukrainian, Russian and Polish.

"Ukrainian! All your personal data has been uploaded onto the public internet," the message read. It continued: "This is for your past, your present and your future."

The Polish language message contained serious errors and did not appear to have been written by a native speaker, according to a statement issued by Poland's government. It also blamed Russia for the hack.

The SBU in Kyiv said later that no personal data had been leaked, according to initial assessments, and no content had been changed.

Among the sites targeted was the Diia website, a key system containing government services that stores personal vaccination data and certificates.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said all its resources were being mobilised to help Ukraine deal with "this type of cyber-attack".

Was Russia behind it?

While the world has nervously watched Russia's troop build-up, the cyber-security community has been watching and waiting for some sort of cyber incursion.

Hybrid or asymmetric warfare is an established part of modern conflict and Russia has proved itself adept at attacking the cyber realm as well as the physical.

During its 2008 invasion of Georgia, government websites were forced offline by attacks from Russia. And when it seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Russia was accused of launching an assortment of cyber-attacks to destabilise communications and spread confusion whilst troops overran the region.

This latest attack on Ukrainian websites is consistent with previous events, but it's also odd.

Threats of deleting personal data are likely hollow, as no data would have been compromised by attacks on public-facing websites.

Instead of a Kremlin-ordered cyber offensive this strikes me as more of a co-ordinated attack by patriotic Russian hackers which is what happened in the Georgia attacks. The Kremlin may not have ordered it but it certainly won't turn down any efforts to further wobble Ukraine at this extremely tense time.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
×