EU accuses Russia of launching cyber-attack an hour before invading Ukraine

The European Union on Tuesday accused Russia of having committed a cyberattack against a European satellite an hour before the start of the war against Ukraine and assured that together with its international partners "it is considering additional measures to prevent, deter, dissuade and respond" to it.

"The European Union and its member states, together with its international partners, strongly condemn the malicious cyber activity carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which targeted the KA-SAT satellite network operated by Viasat," EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said in a statement.

A few minutes after its publication, the head of European diplomacy added at a press conference that "for the first time, we attribute this attack to a state actor, to the Russian Federation".

"In the past we have said that there will be attacks coming from Russia, but it is one thing for them to come from Russian territory and another thing for them to be attributed to the government of the Russian Federation," Borrell said.

According to the EU, the cyber-attack against the satellite, which provides high-speed internet connection to Europe, took place an hour before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the attack against Ukraine on 24 February.

"This cyber-attack had a significant impact, causing indiscriminate disruptions in communications between various public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine, as well as affecting several EU member states," and "facilitated military aggression", the statement said.

The EU-27 said that "cyber-attacks targeting Ukraine, including against critical infrastructure, could spread to other countries and have systemic effects endangering the security of Europe's citizens" and again called on Russia to "immediately" put an end to the war and senseless human suffering."