UK intelligence calls cyberattack on Ukrainian mobile operator “one of the largest” during war

The UK intelligence officials consider the cyberattack on the Kyivstar mobile operator to be one of the most destructive operations of its kind since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war.

On December 12, Ukraine's largest mobile operator Kyivstar, which provides mobile communications and home internet to more than half of the population, suffered a Russian-controlled cyberattack. The consequences of the damage lasted at least two days.

Users were left without mobile communication and couldn't use the Internet. The cyberattack also disrupted air raid sirens, some banks, ATMs, and point-of-sale terminals.

"Given the impact on Ukrainian government resources and emergency services, this incident is likely to be one of the largest-scale disruptive cyberattacks on Ukrainian networks since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion," British intelligence emphasized.

Ukraine's Security Service confirmed that a group of Russian hackers was involved in the cyberattack that destroyed the network infrastructure of the telecommunications operator.

On December 15, Kyivstar's network was reported to be restored after the largest cyberattack in the telecom industry. Over the past 24 hours, the company's specialists have restored international voice roaming services, eliminated the problem with call drops, and stabilized communication in Kyiv.