Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) launched a cyberattack that allegedly "knocked out" the special communications server of the Russian Defense Ministry, the agency reported on Jan. 30.
"As a result of a cyberattack, the server of the Defense Ministry of the aggressor state of Russia, which was used for special communications, went down," the announcement reads.
"The exchange of information between the units of the Russian Defense Ministry that used the server located in Moscow was terminated."
The software used to launch the attack was reportedly approved by the Russian Federal Security Service as compliant with state information security standards and was downloaded on various strategic facilities of the Russian public sector, including the military.
As of 9:24 p.m. local time, the attack is reportedly ongoing.
Cyberattacks have become an increasingly common tool employed by both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war. In one of the most devastating strikes, Russian hackers targeted Ukraine's telecommunications provider, Kyivstar, causing communication outages nationwide last December.
Martin Fornusek
