Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the Cyber Security Department of the Security Service has neutralised more than 16,000 cyberattacks and cyber incidents carried out by russia. Some of these were directed against Ukrainian media outlets.

Brigadier General Volodymyr Karastelyov, Head of the SSU Cyber Security Department, spoke on the topic, highlighting its key challenges and developments.

‘Since 24 February 2022, russia has significantly increased the number of cyberattacks on Ukraine. If we are talking about the largest of these – those contained specifically by the SSU – we neutralised over 16,000 cyberattacks and critical cyber incidents during this period. Notably, in addition to government bodies, financial institutions, and defence structures, Ukrainian media outlets are a priority target for such enemy attacks,’ he emphasised.

According to Karastelyov, russian hackers carried out a large-scale, three-hour DDoS attack on one of the national television channels in 2026. ‘The botnet generated up to 200,000 requests per minute from nodes in Asia, Europe, and the US.’ The attack targeted the website’s application layer: the hackers mimicked real users’ actions to overload the server with complex requests, rendering the site inaccessible. Thanks to the prompt intervention of the SSU’s cyber experts, the website remained operational, and the attackers failed to achieve their objective,’ noted the Cyber Department Chief.

The enemy attacked another of Ukraine’s leading television groups in 2025. ‘The attackers launched an assault on this television channel’s information and communication systems via a phishing campaign, whilst simultaneously attempting to gain access through adjacent infrastructure. SSU specialists detected the intrusion in time and prevented the enemy from achieving its ultimate goal of gaining control of the resource to publish propaganda content on behalf of the Ukrainian channel,’ he said.

To bolster the security of Ukrainian media outlets, the Security Service of Ukraine is collaborating with the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting to implement a project to strengthen the cyber resilience of local and regional media.

‘The main aim of the joint project is not only to respond to cyber-attacks after they have already occurred, but also to build up the practical capacity of regional newsrooms to independently detect threats, protect their digital resources and ensure uninterrupted operations even amid a full-scale war. We are keen to engage in systematic and continuous cooperation with SSU specialists in this area,’ emphasised Olha Herasymiuk, Chair of the National Council.

As part of the project, a series of practical cybersecurity training sessions was held for regional media representatives in 2026. These took place at 20 regional venues, covering representatives from 21 regions of Ukraine. Nearly 450 people took part in the training sessions, including media executives, journalists, editors, digital resource administrators, and technical specialists from editorial teams.