Ukraine Hit by Coordinated Cyberattacks on Government Sites and Banks

Ukraine faced a series of disruptive cyberattacks targeting government ministries, the Defense Ministry, state portals, and major banks, culminating in what officials called the largest DDoS campaign in the country’s history. On 15 February, attacks knocked or degraded access to services at PrivatBank, Oschadbank, the Ministry of Defense, government websites, and the Diia platform, with Ukrainian officials saying roughly 15 banks were affected. Authorities said the operation had been prepared in advance, originated from multiple countries, and was intended to destabilize society and trigger panic; they also said no theft of funds or personal data had been confirmed, while U.S. partners helped provide technical support and additional protections.

The February disruption followed an earlier January intrusion in which multiple Ukrainian ministry websites were hit and a defacement message in Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian falsely warned that citizens’ personal data had been leaked and destroyed. Ukrainian officials said no personal data leak was verified, while the EU and NATO publicly backed Kyiv and expanded cyber assistance, including closer cooperation and access to malware-sharing resources. The incidents fit a longer pattern of cyber operations against Ukraine, including the NotPetya attack that previously disrupted government bodies, banks, utilities, logistics firms, and airport operations and was later publicly attributed by the UK and US to Russia, an accusation Moscow has denied in more recent cases.