Ukraine has repelled more than 1,300 cyberattacks since start of war: Zelenskyy

ISTANBUL

Ukraine has repelled more than 1,300 cyberattacks since the start of the war with Russia in February, the Ukrainian president said on Wednesday.

“We repelled more than 1,300 cyberattacks during the eight months of the Russian war. In the first week of the invasion, Russia destroyed a key data center of our country, and the response solution is the ‘clouds’ into which we moved part of the information systems,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address to the Digital Transformation panel organized as part of the G-20 Summit.

Highlighting the importance of digitalization, Zelenskyy said that millions of Ukrainians use the Diia e-governance web portal that allows Ukrainian citizens to use digital documents.

“If you or your allies and partners do not already have such a system and such digital protection, we will be happy to help you build them! Cyber defense is about cooperation. The stability of institutions is cooperation. Reliable communication, including satellite communication, is also about cooperation,” he said.

Zelenskyy also called for approaching the subject matter “from a security perspective.”

“Dear leaders, you now clearly see what modern war is. Today, it is impossible to imagine life without computer networks, high-speed communication, the Internet, and even more so - without electricity. But your enemies may try to deprive you of just that,” he added.

Zelenskyy said that Russia on Tuesday fired “around 100 missiles” across Ukraine, mostly targeting the country’s energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian officials also reported explosions in several cities, including Rivne, Lviv, Vinnytsia, and Kovel.

Parts of Rivne, the administrative center of the western Rivne region, were left without electricity after blasts at a critical infrastructure location, Mayor Alexander Tretyak said on Telegram.

Three residential buildings were hit in Kyiv on the same day, killing a civilian, said the city’s mayor.