EU blames Russia for targeting of US satellite operator Viasat at start of war

The statement said the attack caused significant disruptions ‘across public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine, as well as affecting several EU member states’

The European Union [EU] on May 10 accused the Russian authorities of carrying out a cyberattack against a satellite network an hour before the invasion of Ukraine to pave the way for its assault.

It marked the first time the EU has formally blamed the Russian authorities for carrying out a cyberattack, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

“The European Union and its Member States, together with its international partners, strongly condemn the malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which targeted the satellite KA-SAT network, operated by Viasat,” the 27-nation bloc said in a statement.

“The cyberattack took place one hour before Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 thus facilitating the military aggression.”

The statement said the attack caused significant disruptions “across public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine, as well as affecting several EU member states.”

Mr. Borrell said that previously, the bloc has only said that cyberattacks had come from within Russia, but that it now had enough evidence to attribute this hack to the Russian state.