“As a result of a massive cyberattack, the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of other government agencies are temporarily down,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on his official Twitter account on Friday.
“Our specialists have already started restoring the work of IT systems, and the cyberpolice has opened an investigation,” he added.
Early Friday morning local time, Ukrainian government websites, including that of the Foreign Ministry, displayed dark screens with a threatening text that said Ukrainians’ personal information had been hacked.
“Ukrainian! All your personal data has been uploaded to the public network. All data on the computer is destroyed, it is impossible to restore them,” the message, published in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish, read.
“All information about you has become public, be afraid and wait for the worst. This is for you for your past, present and future. For Volhynia, for the OUN UIA [Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists Ukrainian Insurgent Army], for Galicia, for Polesie and for historical lands,” the web page read.
The Ministry of Education and Science, whose official website is also down, directed citizens to use the ministry’s official social media channels on Friday while the issue is being resolved.
