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While tensions between Kiev and Moscow remain high, several Ukrainian websites, including that of Foreign Affairs, were targeted by a cyberattack on Friday morning.
Kiev fears an invasion of its territory by Russian forces.
REUTERS
Several Ukrainian government websites were the target of a large-scale cyberattack on Friday, an assault not immediately claimed, which occurred amid heightened tensions between Kiev and Moscow.
Ukraine and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Moscow of carrying out computer attacks against their sites and infrastructure, which Russia is defending itself against. The websites of ministries, including that of Foreign Affairs and that of Emergency Situations, were inaccessible Friday morning.
“Ukrainians, be afraid”
Before the first site was targeted, a threatening message was posted by the perpetrators of the cyberattack on its homepage in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish. “Ukrainians, be afraid and prepare for the worst. All your personal data has been uploaded to the web, ”according to an AFP correspondent. This message was accompanied by several logos, including a crossed out Ukrainian flag.
“The official site of the Ministry of Education and Science is temporarily closed because of the global attack which took place on the night of January 13 to 14,” the latter announced on his Facebook page. Ukraine has been the target of cyber attacks several times in recent years, notably in 2017, against several critical infrastructures, and in 2015, against its electricity network.
For the moment no claim, no accusation
In October, the American justice revealed to have indicted six agents of the Russian military intelligence for these cyberattacks, but also for others around the world, like those which targeted the party of the current French president Emmanuel Macron, before the elections. 2017, and the 2018 Olympics, in South Korea.
Friday’s hack was not immediately claimed and authorities have yet to blame anyone, but it comes amid growing tensions between Ukraine and neighboring Russia, which Kiev and its Western allies accuse of planning a new invasion of Ukrainian territory. Several sessions of talks between Russian and Western officials have taken place in recent days to defuse this crisis, without any progress.
(AFP)