Ukraine claims to have evidence proving Russia was behind recent cyberattack

Ukraine has alleged that Russia was behind a cyberattack that defaced its government websites and alleged Russia was engaged in an increasing “hybrid war” against its neighbor.

The statement from the ministry of digital development came a day after Microsoft said dozens of computer systems at an unspecified number of Ukrainian government agencies had been infected with destructive malware disguised as ransomware.

“All the evidence points to Russia being behind the cyberattack,” the Ukrainian digital transformation ministry said in a statement. “Moscow is continuing to wage a hybrid war.” The ministry urged Ukrainians not to panic, saying their personal information was protected.

The purpose of the attack, it added, “is not only to intimidate society, but to also destabilise the situation in Ukraine, halting the work of the public sector and crushing Ukrainians’ trust in the authorities”.

On Friday, Washington also accused Russia of sending saboteurs trained in explosives to stage an incident that could be the pretext to invade Ukraine. Russia has denied this and stated that there is no evidence that they were behind the attack.

“We have nothing to do with it,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN. “Ukrainians are blaming everything on Russia, even their bad weather in their country,” he said.