Ukraine Says Another Sweeping Cyberattack Underway as State Websites and Banks Hit

Residents carry Ukrainian national flag as they gather in the Olympic Stadium to mark the Unity Day, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 16, 2022. (Reuters)
Residents carry Ukrainian national flag as they gather in the Olympic Stadium to mark the Unity Day, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 16, 2022. (Reuters)
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Ukraine Says Another Sweeping Cyberattack Underway as State Websites and Banks Hit

Residents carry Ukrainian national flag as they gather in the Olympic Stadium to mark the Unity Day, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 16, 2022. (Reuters)
Residents carry Ukrainian national flag as they gather in the Olympic Stadium to mark the Unity Day, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 16, 2022. (Reuters)

The websites of Ukraine's government, foreign ministry and state security service were down on Wednesday in what the government said was the start of another massive denial of service (DDoS) attack that began at around 4 p.m. (1400 GMT).

Ukrainian authorities said this week they had seen online warnings that hackers were preparing to launch major attacks on government agencies, banks and the defense sector.

Ukraine has suffered a string of cyberattacks that Kyiv has blamed on Russia. Moscow, which is caught up in a mounting confrontation with the West over Ukraine, has denied any involvement.

"At about 4 pm, another mass DDoS attack on our state began. We have relevant data from a number of banks," said Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation, adding that the parliament website was also hit.

He did not mention which banks were affected and the central bank could not immediately be reached for comment.

The online networks of Ukraine's defense ministry and two banks were overwhelmed last week in a separate cyberattack. The US company Netscout Systems Inc later said the impact had been modest.

Internet blockage observatory NetBlocks posted a tweet on Thursday that showed a drop-off in connections to the Ukrainian government websites.

"We've observed that the current network disruption has partial impact on the network layer to multiple defense and ministerial websites in Ukraine," NetBlocks director Alp Toker told Reuters.

"The spread of outages is similar but distinct from the recent DDOS attack targeting defense and banking platforms, with the latter not impacted in this instance," he added.



UN Rights Chief Urges US to Not Use Military Force in Anti-Trump Protests

Demonstrators hold banners during a 'No Kings Day' protest in Los Angeles, California, USA, 14 June 2025.  EPA/KYLE GRILLOT
Demonstrators hold banners during a 'No Kings Day' protest in Los Angeles, California, USA, 14 June 2025. EPA/KYLE GRILLOT
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UN Rights Chief Urges US to Not Use Military Force in Anti-Trump Protests

Demonstrators hold banners during a 'No Kings Day' protest in Los Angeles, California, USA, 14 June 2025.  EPA/KYLE GRILLOT
Demonstrators hold banners during a 'No Kings Day' protest in Los Angeles, California, USA, 14 June 2025. EPA/KYLE GRILLOT

The UN human rights chief on Monday urged US authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly and refrain from using military force in the context of large protests against President Donald Trump's actions while in office.

"I urge the authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly and to uphold human rights in law enforcement, including by refraining from any resort to military force when civilian authorities are capable of maintaining public order," Volker Turk told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in a broad opening speech.

His comments come after Trump sent US marines to Los Angeles to square off against protesters as part of a rare use of military force to support domestic police.

Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids have been flaring up around the country.

Opponents of Trump's immigration policies took to the streets as part of the “no kings” demonstrations Saturday that came as Trump held a massive parade in Washington for the 250th anniversary of the US Army.

Saturday's protests were mostly peaceful.

But police in Los Angeles used tear gas and crowd-control munitions to clear out protesters after the event ended.

Officers in Portland, Oregon, also fired tear gas and projectiles to disperse a crowd that protested in front of a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building well into the evening.

Trump made the call for stepped up enforcement in Democratic-controlled cities on social media as he was making his way to the Group of Seven economic summit in Alberta, Canada.

He suggested to reporters as he departed the White House for the G7 on Sunday evening that his decision to deploy National Guard troops to Los Angeles was the reason the protests in that city went peacefully.

“If we didn’t have the National Guard on call and ready, they would rip Los Angeles apart,” Trump said.

The shift also come as Trump is grappling with the impact his mass deportation effort is having on key industries that rely on workers in the country illegally.

Trump posted on his Truth Social site Thursday that he heard from hotel, agriculture and leisure industries that his “very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them” and promised that changes would be made.

That same day Tatum King, an official with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, wrote to regional leaders telling them to halt investigations of the agriculture industry, including meatpackers, as well as of restaurants and hotels, according to the US official.