Poland claims involvement of Russia in cyberattacks on Ukraine government websites

Ukraine on Friday  saw a massive cyberattack with multiple government departments' websites being temporarily taken down, including the foreign ministry. Now, the spokesperson of Poland's Minister, Stanislaw Zaryn Coordinator of Special Services stated that Poland's special services suspect Russian involvement in cyberattacks targeting Ukrainian government websites, according to Sputnik.

On the hacked websites, a statement in three languages appeared that stated that all of Ukrainians' personal data had been posted to the internet. According to AP, Victor Zhora, who is the deputy chair of the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine, said that some 70 websites of both national and regional government agencies were targeted in the attack, but no essential infrastructure was harmed and no personal data was acquired.

Statement on the websites riddled with errors

Stanislaw Zaryn stated that the statement on the websites was written in Polish, among other languages, but it was riddled with errors, indicating that it was authored by someone who did not speak Polish as a first language, according to Sputnik. He further said that there is an attempt from the outside to inflame tensions between Poland and Ukraine and such activities are consistent with Russia's ongoing narrative of Central European countries as a threat.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko, on the other hand, stated that it is too early to identify who was behind it, but there is a lengthy history of Russian cyber operations against Ukraine in the past, according to AP News. Russia nearly destabilised Ukraine's national elections in 2014 and briefly knocked out parts of its power grid in the winters of 2015 and 2016. Several countries, notably France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have accused Russia of repeated cyberattacks in recent years. All of the charges have been refuted by Russia, which has called for international collaboration to combat cybercrime.

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia have risen in recent months, with Moscow amassing estimated 100,000 troops along Ukraine's border. In the wake of the cyberattacks, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated on Friday that the alliance will continue to give Ukraine strong political and practical support.

(Inputs from ANI/ AP News)

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