Russian cyber threat compounds tensions in Ukraine as invasion worries grow

Moscow's reputation of being a cyber threat could be dangerous throughout the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, experts tell Global News.

Amid its standoff with Russia, Ukraine is facing a threat on two fronts: land and cyberspace.

On land, the country continues to see a buildup of Russian troops near its borders, but there has been no aggression around possible entry points like Senkivka, a border crossing that Global News visited this week.

In cyberspace, Ukraine has already fought off many attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, but it has also seen government websites hacked, adding further unease in east Europe.

“There’s without a doubt that if an invasion occurs, Russia will have a cyber component to it (and) at this point, it’s a matter of debate on exactly how it’s going to look,” said Alexander Rudolph, a cyber-defence expert and PhD candidate in the department of political science at Carleton University.

“We haven’t seen what’s possible yet. We’ve only seen kind of hints at this point.”

For weeks, Western nations have been trying to negotiate an agreement with Russia to ease the tensions with neighbouring Ukraine. Moscow has stationed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine while talks continue, and has rejected Western accusations it’s planning to invade.

At the Senkivka crossing, a multi-national point between Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, Ukrainian border officer Alexandra Stupak has seen no increase in military activity or Russian aggression.

“We are hoping that we don’t face the display of aggression from our neighbours and everything will be peaceful,” Stupak told Global News through a Ukrainian translator.