Russians unable to withdraw cash, DIU cyberattack intensifies - source

According to Ukrinform, a source in the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) reported this.

The attack on the banking sector, which is involved in financing Russia's armed aggression, has been going on for several days in a row and is gaining momentum.

After the online services of leading Russian banks, Internet providers, social networks and national payment systems were hit, ATMs were attacked.

In addition, Ukrainian intelligence managed to gain access to the databases of Russian financial institutions.

According to intelligence sources, brokerage applications and ATMs have joined the main Russian banking institutions that have already had their online services blocked.

From now on, users of a number of Russian banks cannot withdraw cash, as their debit and credit cards are immediately blocked when they try to use an ATM.

In addition, the DIU's cyber specialists managed to gain access to large volumes of databases of the targeted financial institutions.

The affected VTB Bank, Alfa Bank, Sberbank, Raiffeisen Bank, RSHB Bank, Rosbank, Gazprombank, T-Bank and iBank were joined by the Russian bank Dom.rf. The brokerage application T-Investments has also been blocked.

Since Russia raised key interest rates to 18% on 26 July, it is impossible to carry out any banking transactions due to the lack of access to services, which leads to the loss of funds by the population.

According to the DIU, a large-scale cyberattack against the Russian financial sector began in the morning of 23 July.

As a result of the attack, the operation of payment systems, mobile applications of banks, personal accounts, public transport payment systems, etc. was suspended or significantly hampered. Later, popular online messengers, Internet service providers and telecommunications service providers, Russia's largest social networks, and a number of financial services applications were also affected.

According to the DIU's sources, the operation against Russian financial institutions is ongoing.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Deputy Defence Minister Kateryna Chernogorenko announced the deepening of cooperation with partners in the field of cybersecurity following the third round of the Cyber Dialogue between Ukraine and the European Union, which took place in Brussels.