Foreign Ministry statement on continued cyberattack by the “collective West”

In the context of the special military operation launched to defend the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine, the United States and its satellites are waging a large-scale cyberattack against Russia.  Advanced information and communication technologies are being used almost every day to attack government agencies, media outlets, critical infrastructure and vital facilities. The Kiev regime has announced international recruitment of anti-Russia IT professionals into “offensive cyber forces.” Daily malicious attacks against Russia number hundreds of thousands.

Sophisticated cyber technologies are being used to capture the personal data of Russian citizens. A lot of fake news are posted online to disorient and demoralise Russian society, discredit the actions of the Russian Armed Forces and government agencies, encourage unlawful activities of the public, complicate the operation of our industrial sectors and sow fear and instability in the country.

The unprecedented scale of these attacks and their close coordination clearly indicate that the cyberwar waged against Russia by Ukrainian special ICT operations centres trained by US and other NATO experts is being reinforced with anonymous hackers and trolls acting on orders from the Kiev regime’s Western mentors. In fact, this cyberwar is being waged by an army of cyber mercenaries who have been given concrete combat tasks that often border on terrorism.

Concerned Russian agencies are effectively fighting back and repelling these attacks. The task of strengthening ICT security in the current conditions is becoming a priority aspect of reliably ensuring national security. Efforts will be redoubled at international venues, first of all at the UN, to promote relevant initiatives. Work will continue to strengthen the legal protection of Russian individuals and legal entities from malicious foreign cyber activities.

Nobody must have any doubt that the cyber aggression being waged against Russia will have dramatic consequences for its inspirers and operators. The sources of these attacks will be identified, and the culprits will inevitably be called to account for their activities in accordance with the law.