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Cyberattack
hits
Ukraine
as U.S.
warns
Russia
could be
prepping
for war
KYIV/WASHINGTON,
Jan 14
(Reuters)
- The
United
States
said it
feared
Russia
was
preparing
a
pretext
to
invade
Ukraine
if
diplomacy
fails to
meet its
objectives,
after a
massive
cyberattack
splashed
Ukrainian
government
websites
with a
warning
to "be
afraid
and
expect
the
worst".
Moscow
dismissed
such
warnings,
though
it has
amassed
more
than
100,000
troops
on its
neighbour's
frontiers
and on
Friday
released
pictures
of more
of its
forces
on the
move.
read
more
The
cyberattack
unfolded
hours
after
security
talks
wrapped
up on
Thursday
with no
breakthrough
between
Moscow
and
Western
allies.
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to
Reuters.com
Ukraine
said its
president,
Volodymyr
Zelenskiy,
had
proposed
a
three-way
meeting
with the
leaders
of
Russia
and the
United
States.
Zelenskiy's
chief of
staff,
Andriy
Yermak,
said the
"life
and
death"
of his
country
hung in
the
balance.
White
House
press
secretaryJen
Psakitold
reporters
the
United
States
was
concerned
that
Russia
was
preparing
for the
possibility
of a new
military
assault
on a
country
it
invaded
in 2014.
read
more
"As part
of its
plans,
Russia
is
laying
the
groundwork
to have
the
option
of
fabricating
a
pretext
for
invasion,
including
through
sabotage
activities
and
information
operations,
by
accusing
Ukraine
of
preparing
an
imminent
attack
against
Russian
forces
in
eastern
Ukraine,"
Psaki
said.
A U.S.
officialsaid
the
United
States
had
information
that
indicated
Russia
had
already
positioned
a group
of
operatives
to
conduct
"a
false-flag
operation"
in
eastern
Ukraine.
Kremlin
spokesperson
Dmitry
Peskov
dismissed
such
reports
as based
on
"unfounded"
information,
TASS
news
agency
reported.
Russia
denies
plans to
attack
Ukraine
but says
it could
take
unspecified
military
action
unless
its
demands
-
including
a
promise
by the
NATO
alliance
never to
admit
Kyiv -
are met.
Foreign
Minister
Sergei
Lavrov
said
that
Russia
hoped
security
talks
with the
United
States
would
resume
but that
this
would
depend
on
Washington's
response
to
Moscow's
proposals.
"We
categorically
will not
accept
the
appearance
of NATO
right on
our
borders,
especially
so given
the
current
course
of the
Ukrainian
leadership,"
he said.
Asked
what
Moscow
meant by
threatening
this
week to
take
"military-technical
action"
if talks
fail,
Lavrov
said:
"Measures
to
deploy
military
hardware,
that is
obvious.
When we
take
decisions
with
military
hardware
we
understand
what we
mean and
what we
are
preparing
for."
Russian
Defence
Ministry
footage
released
by RIA
news
agency
showed
armoured
vehicles
and
other
military
hardware
being
loaded
onto
trains
in
Russia's
far
east, in
what
Moscow
called
an
inspection
drill to
practice
long-range
deployments.
"This is
likely
cover
for the
units
being
moved
towards
Ukraine,"
said Rob
Lee, a
military
analyst
and a
fellow
at the
U.S.-based
Foreign
Policy
Research
Institute.
A laptop
screen
displays
a
warning
message
in
Ukrainian,
Russian
and
Polish,
that
appeared
on the
official
website
of the
Ukrainian
Foreign
Ministry
after a
massive
cyberattack,
in this
illustration
taken
January
14,
2022.
REUTERS/Valentyn
Ogirenko/Illustration
"EXPECT
THE
WORST"
Ukrainian
officials
were
investigating
the
cyberattack,
which
they
said hit
around
70
internet
sites of
government
bodies
including
the
security
and
defence
council.
Though
they
avoided
directly
accusing
Moscow,
Ukraine's
foreign
ministry
spokesperson
told
Reuters
that
Russia
had been
behind
similar
strikes
in the
past.
A
spokesperson
for the
White
House
National
Security
Council
said it
was not
yet
clear
who was
responsible.
"We are
in touch
with the
Ukrainians
and have
offered
our
support,"
the
spokesperson
said.
Russia
did not
comment,
but has
previously
denied
being
behind
cyberattacks,
including
against
Ukraine.
"Ukrainian!
All your
personal
data was
uploaded
to the
public
network.
All data
on the
computer
is
destroyed,
it is
impossible
to
restore
it,"
said a
message
visible
on
hacked
government
websites,
written
in
Ukrainian,
Russian
and
Polish.
"All
information
about
you has
become
public,
be
afraid
and
expect
the
worst.
This is
for your
past,
present
and
future."
The
message
was
peppered
with
references
that
echoed
long-running
Russian
state
allegations,
rejected
by Kyiv,
that
Ukraine
is in
thrall
to
far-right
nationalist
groups.
The
Ukrainian
government
said it
had
restored
most of
the
affected
sites
and no
personal
data had
been
stolen.
NATO
responded
by
announcing
that it
would
sign a
new
agreement
within
days
with
Kyiv on
closer
cooperation
in cyber
defence,
including
giving
Ukraine
access
to the
Western
military
alliance's
system
for
sharing
information
on
malicious
software.
Secretary-General
Jens
Stoltenberg
said in
a
statement
that
NATO
cyber
experts
were
already
working
with the
Ukrainian
authorities
to
respond
to the
attack.
The
European
Union's
top
diplomat,
Josep
Borrell,
said the
EU's
political
and
security
committee
and
cyber
units
would
meet to
see how
to help
Kyiv.
"I can't
blame
anybody
as I
have no
proof,
but we
can
imagine,"
he said.
On the
streets
of
Ukraine,
there
was
growing
resignation
to the
prospect
of
renewed
fighting.
Kyiv
resident
Ruslan
Kavatsyuk,
39, said
he saw
the
cyberattack
as a
"positive",
since it
would
stiffen
the
resolve
of the
Ukrainian
public.
"It
reminds
us that
we live
during
military
times,
that
Russia
is an
enemy
who will
kill us
physically,"
he said.
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Reuters.com
Additional
reporting
by
Matthias
Williams
in Kyiv,
Anton
Kolodyazhnyy,
Tom
Balmforth
and
Andrew
Osborn
in
Moscow,
Sabine
Siebold
and John
Irish in
Brest,
France;
Writing
by Mark
Trevelyan,
Peter
Graff
and Alex
Richardson;
Editing
by
Alison
Williams,
Hugh
Lawson
and John
Stonestreet
Our
Standards:
The
Thomson
Reuters
Trust
Principles.
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