Ukrainian Intelligence Hacks Russia’s Central Bank – Source Says

Russian Central Bank services were made unavailable or significantly interrupted Monday, July 29, a source working for Ukraine’s military Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) told Kyiv Post.

According to the source, the bank – which is being targeted because it financially supports Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine – fell victim to a cyberattack that started at 11 a.m.

Hackers working for HUR have been conducting their largest-ever DDOS attack on Russia since July 23, the source said in written comments.

The Central Bank is Russia’s main issuing and monetary institution, creating a unified state credit policy with Moscow and it’s vested with special powers, including the right to issue banknotes and regulate bank. Russians were interrupted from using its services, as well as the services of Zenit Bank and Gazprombank , the source said.

The situation is further complicated by the lack of stable internet connection, as the largest telecommunications service providers in Russia have also been subject to systematic cyberattacks, the source said. The Ukrainians are attacking the MTS mobile service provider, whose users have been unable to fully use their services for three days, the source said.

As a result of Ukraine’s ongoing cyberattack, which began on the morning of July 23, online services are either not functioning or have been significantly degraded at Alfa-Bank, Sberbank, Raiffeisen Bank, VTB Bank, RSHB Bank, Gazprombank, Tinkoff Bank, and the online banking service iBank, the source said.

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The cyberattack against Russian financial institutions continues, the source said.