Political | Process

Ukraine has been hit by a ‘massive’ cyberattack targeting its government and banks, just hours after a nationwide state of emergency was declared in preparation for a feared Russian invasion. 

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• The websites of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service, and Cabinet of Ministers were all out of action Wednesday afternoon.

• Bomb threats were also phoned in to several government buildings, thought to be part of a psychological pressure campaign by Moscow.

• Deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov said banks were also targeted in a ‘massive’ distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack – which uses computer networks to bombard websites with information until they crash – in what analysts have warned would likely be the first stage of a Russian attack.

• It came just hours after the whole country was placed on a war footing: A state of emergency was declared, 200,000 military reservists called up, border zones were restricted and three million Ukrainians told to leave Russia, with Kiev acknowledging for the first time that an attack could now take place anywhere, at any time.

• As the noose tightened, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to send more weapons to help Ukraine defend itself against what the US has warned will be an all-out Russian assault. Johnson also promised more and tougher sanctions against Russia if Putin escalates further. 

• Earlier in the day, Vladimir Putin had given a sabre-rattling address to his troops to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day, praising their ‘battle readiness’ while saying he is assured that they will fight to defend Russian security interests – which he called ‘non-negotiable’. Russia also evacuated staff from its Kiev embassy.  

• Ukraine’s security agency claimed 45,000 plastic body bags have now been ordered to the Russian frontlines, giving the first hint of the amount lives Putin is willing to sacrifice to get what he wants – after Joe Biden said supplies of blood for transfusions have also been brought in.  

• Defense Secretary Liz Truss warned that Putin is ‘hell-bent’ on a full-scale invasion of Ukraine with a direct attack on the capital of Kiev ‘highly likely’ to be in his plans. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison predicted the attack is ‘likely to occur within the next 24 hours’. 

• Meanwhile the EU imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russia targeting the defence minister, heads of the armed forces, all 351 members of its parliament, and prominent propagandists. It comes after the US and UK announced their own measures on Tuesday, targeting oligarchs and banks.