Full restoration of state registries expected within weeks, Justice Ministry says after major cyberattack

The Justice Ministry has faced "serious challenges" after the largest cyberattack in months targeted state registries, but a full restoration is expected within two weeks, First Deputy Justice Minister Mykola Kucheryavenko said on Dec. 22.

In comments to the Kyiv Independent, Kucheryavenko said that the precise date of the full restoration of the registries would be more clear in the coming days.

"The aggressor's actions were aimed at destabilizing the work of the state registries," Kucheryavenko said. "The goals of the attack were not achieved."

The cyberattack targeted several government services on Dec. 19, including state registers overseen by the Justice Ministry, Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna said. Officials say the cyberattack had been prepared for months. Ukraine launched a criminal investigation.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) suggested on Dec. 20 Russia's military intelligence agency (GRU) could be behind the cyberattack on Ukraine's government services.

The former Justice Minister, Denys Maliuska, told Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that the majority of the information Russia stole was "already freely available," though closed a register were also affected.

"This is one of the most closed register where information is stored, in which there is no secret, it would seem — that someone was born or married," Maliuska told Ukrainska Pravda.

"But at the same time, there is a secret that is strictly protected by law — the secret of adoption," he added.

Kucheryavenko said that "preliminary estimates no information from the registries has been lost," adding that the ministry has backup copies of the data.

Behind the scenes of the fierce battles on the front line, both sides are fighting a cyberwarfare crucial to the war efforts.