Ukraine De Facto Became NATO's Testing Ground for Digital Warfare Against Russia – Moscow

Ukraine has de facto become a NATO ground for testing methods of fighting Russia in the digital space, Artur Lyukmanov, the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry, has told Sputnik.

"Indeed, in the past two years, the domestic information infrastructure has become the target of regular computer attacks. Most of them are carried out from the territory [of Ukraine] or in the interests of [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelensky's regime," Lyukmanov said.

He added that "the Kiev authorities, who in the West pose themselves as victims of 'Russian cyber aggression,' boast of sabotage against Russia using information and communication technologies."

In November 2023 alone, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry claimed responsibility for several cyberattacks on Russian information resources, Lyukmanov said.

"This country has de facto become a NATO testing ground for the methods of warfare in the digital space," Lyukmanov said, adding that "the entire information security sector of Ukraine has been handed over to the external management of Western curators."

Russia has repeatedly warned Western countries that Ukraine's US-backed "IT army" would become a problem for Europeans, and this is what exactly has happened as there are more than 1,000 "call centers" in Ukraine that are engaged in the extortion of money, Artur Lyukmanov, the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry, has told Sputnik.

"As for the 'IT army,' we are talking, in fact, about a bunch of hackers and telephone fraud, who are mainly engaged in trivial theft. According to our data, there are more than 1,000 'call centers' on the territory of Ukraine engaged in the extortion of money. We have repeatedly warned Western countries that the "IT army" created in spite of Russia and supported by the United States would sooner or later become a problem for ordinary Europeans. After all, this is what exactly has happened," Lyukmanov said.

The Russian official recalled that Hungarian authorities said in November 2023 that most of the funds stolen in Hungary "as a result of crimes using information and communication technologies and telephone fraud end up in Ukraine," adding that "the geography and scale of criminal activity of these 'fighters for independence' is much wider and is not limited to Europe."

Anglo-Saxon countries send their special services' cyber units to Ukraine to train their hackers engaged in activities against Russia, and the majority of Western funds provided to Ukraine for information security are being embezzled, Artur Lyukmanov, the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry, has told Sputnik.

Lyukmanov said Ukraine's entire information security sector has been handed over to the external management of Western curators.

"Cyber units of special services and armed forces of Anglo-Saxon countries are sent there [to Ukraine] to train and coordinate hackers engaged in activities against Russia. Substantial technical and financial assistance is provided for this, which, of course, is mostly embezzled. We have no doubts that a significant portion of the budget of the US Cyber Command, which has bloated to a record $13.5 billion, will be spent at the Ukraine direction," Lyukmanov said.