The Kremlin is planning to carry out massive cyber attacks on critical infrastructure within Ukraine and against its allies, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) warned today.
The GUR stated that the attacks will be aimed primarily at the energy sector and critical infrastructure of Ukraine and its allies.
They also stated that the experience of cyber attacks on Ukraine’s energy systems in 2015 and 2016 will be used when conducting operations.
Through these cyber attacks, Russia will seek to increase the effect of missile strikes on electricity supply facilities, primarily in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine.
The GUR said that the Russian military command believes that these attacks will slow down the offensive operations of the Ukrainian military.
Intelligence also indicates that Russia intends to increase the intensity of distributed denial-of-service DDoS attacks on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine’s closest allies, primarily Poland and the Baltic states.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, NATO stated that a cyber attack on a NATO member state could trigger Article 5, its collective defence clause.
“We will not speculate on how serious a cyberattack would have to be in order to trigger a collective response. Any response could include diplomatic and economic sanctions, cyber measures, or even conventional forces, depending on the nature of the attack,” a NATO official said.
