On Tuesday, a significant cyber assault targeted Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, resulting in disruptions to a regional air raid warning system and certain banking services for Ukrainian
A significant cyberattack on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure occurred, marking one of the most impactful incidents since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly two years ago.
The attack targeted Kyivstar, a major mobile operator, causing damage to its IT infrastructure. To contain the situation, CEO Oleksandr Komarov announced the shutdown of network connections on Ukrainian television.
Kyivstar, with 24.8 million customers at the end of 2022, experienced disruptions.
In the northern Sumy region, air raid services faced outages due to the Kyivstar malfunction, according to the local military administration
A Telegram post from the Sumy city military administration explained that the air alert system would be temporarily unavailable.
Patrol police and the State Emergency Service will provide notifications during air raids while Kyivstar specialists address technical issues.
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Kyivstar Disruption Aligns with Ukraine’s Military Claim on Russian Tax Service Cyber Attack
The disruption at Kyivstar coincided with an unprecedented move by Ukraine’s military, publicly claiming credit for a cyberattack on Russia’s federal tax service in a press release on Tuesday.
CNN has sought confirmation of the cyberattack from the Russian tax service, but it remains unverified.
Ukrainian officials, along with their US counterparts and private experts, report that Russian state-backed hackers are conducting cyberattacks alongside physical assaults on Ukrainian critical infrastructure to undermine defenses.
The full impact of these cyberattacks is challenging to determine due to the complexities of the ongoing conflict.
Nonetheless, independent experts note the resilience of Ukraine’s cyber defenses.
In a related incident, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, hackers disrupted services for Viasat, a satellite service provider crucial to the Ukrainian military.
The Biden administration attributed the hack to Russia, although Moscow routinely denies involvement in cyberattacks.
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