UK assess Russian involvement in cyber attacks on Ukraine

The Government today attributed the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against the Ukrainian banking sector on 15 and 16 February 2022 to have involved the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). The decision to publicly attribute this incident underlines the fact that the UK and its allies will not tolerate malicious cyber activity.

An FCDO spokesperson said:

The UK Government judges that the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) were involved in this week’s distributed denial of service attacks against the financial sector in Ukraine.

The attack showed a continued disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty. This activity is yet another example of Russia’s aggressive acts against Ukraine.

This disruptive behaviour is unacceptable - Russia must stop this activity and respect Ukrainian sovereignty. We are steadfast in our support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.

Notes to editors

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre have assessed from technical information that the Russian Main intelligence Directorate (GRU) was almost certainly involved in the Disruptive Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on 15 and 16th of February in Ukraine.