The Feb. 24 attack was an attempt to disrupt Ukrainian command and control communication during the invasion, the U.S. Department of State said in a statement. Yet the episode ultimately had an impact across Europe, temporarily disabling tens of thousands of satellite terminals that support wind turbines and provide private citizens with internet, U.S. officials said.
According to a statement from the EU, Russia-backed actors targeted Viasat's satellite KA-SAT network, "causing indiscriminate communication outages and disruptions across several public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine."
Officials in the EU, U.K. and U.S. also blamed the Russian government for other cyberattacks targeting Ukraine in the run-up to its invasion, including distributed denial-of-service attacks that disrupted access to several Ukrainian government websites.
"This unacceptable cyberattack is yet another example of Russia's continued pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, which also formed an integral part of its illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine," EU officials said in a press release.
"Such behaviour is contrary to the expectations set by all UN member states, including the Russian Federation, of responsible state behaviour and the intentions of states in cyberspace," EU authorities added. "Cyberattacks targeting Ukraine, including against critical infrastructure, could spill over into other countries and cause systemic effects putting the security of Europe's citizens at risk."
U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, in a statement, said that there is "clear and shocking evidence of a deliberate and malicious attack by Russia against Ukraine which had significant consequences on ordinary people and businesses in Ukraine and across Europe."
"We will continue to call out Russia's malign behaviour and unprovoked aggression across land, sea and cyberspace, and ensure it faces severe consequences," Truss said.
In response to Tuesday's announcements, a Viasat spokesperson said that the company "recognizes" that international governments "have identified who they believe to be responsible for the cyberattack on the KA-SAT network."
"We have and will continue to work closely with relevant law enforcement and governmental authorities as part of the ongoing investigation," the spokesperson added.
A spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Russian actors have a long history of launching cyberattacks in Ukraine, including in a June 2017 cyberattack that paralyzed part of Ukraine's banking and electricity sectors, before spreading to organizations across the globe, including DLA Piper, whose network was shut down for days.
U.S. cybersecurity officials have also repeatedly warned critical infrastructure operators in recent months to watch out for potential cyberattacks from Russian state-sponsored actors.
--Editing by Ellen Johnson.
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