Russia plans massive cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, Ukraine warns

Ukraine said the Kremlin was planning cyberattacks against its energy sector to slow down the offensive operations of the Ukrainian military.

"First of all, attacks will be aimed at enterprises of the energy sector," Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine said.

Russia targeted Ukraine's energy systems in 2015 and 2016, right after the annexation of Crimea. In December 2015, the Ukrainian power grid was hacked, resulting in power outages for over 200,000 citizens for 1-6 hours. The attack was attributed to the Russian advanced persistent threat (APT) group Sandworm. In 2016, Ukraine's capital Kyiv experienced a power blackout following another Russian cyberattack.

Sandworm, linked with the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, is also responsible for the NotPetya attacks on Ukraine in 2017. ​​The attack devastated Ukrainian IT systems, shutting down the radiation monitoring system at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, several major banks, airports, the Ukrainian railway, and other critically important organizations.

"By the cyberattacks, the enemy will try to increase the effect of missile strikes on electricity supply facilities, primarily in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. The occupying command is convinced that this will slow down the offensive operations of the Ukrainian Defence Forces," Ukraine warned.

It is also rumored that the Kremlin is preparing 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.