- U.S. intelligence agencies have helped Ukraine foil an escalating number of Russian cyberattacks in recent months as Moscow’s troops mass along their shared border.
- An official at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C., describes the sharp increase in hacks and other forms of cyberwarfare as the work of “hackers on the order of Russian intelligence” and says the Ukrainian Security Service prevented 350 of them beginning in January through cooperation with U.S. intelligence agencies.
- The simmering provocations mark a troubling rise in aggression from Russia at a time Ukrainian officials fear Moscow’s forces could mount new offensives within weeks, or even days.
- “Moscow is well positioned to … continue destabilization efforts against Ukraine while settlement talks remain stalled and low-level fighting continues,” the U.S. intelligence community concluded in its annual Worldwide Threat Assessment, released this month.
- “Russia almost certainly considers cyber attacks an acceptable option to deter adversaries, control escalation, and prosecute conflicts.”
– Paul Shinkman | April 20, 2021
