Russian cyber warfare against Ukraine

“Cyberspace is, among other things, communications space built of internet network systems. It allows its users to communicate online and be in contact in real time. Cyberspace is an environment for exchanging information via computer networks and systems. Cyberspace is a dimension of activity in which all operations differ in nature from the physical domain. In addition to the land, sea, air and space domains, this is a new dimension in which activities can be carried out, including warfare. The above definition by Maciej Marczyk perfectly captures the essence of a domain, which both brings new development opportunities and constitutes an excellent field of warfare. Cyberattacks not only accompany conventional wars, but often precede or replace them. It was actually the case in Russia’s war against Ukraine, where cyber warfare had been launched before the conventional attack.

For Russia, Ukraine had become a target of cyberattacks long before the outbreak of a full-scale war in February 2022. Cyberattacks are an element of information warfare, as follows directly from the “Gerasimov doctrine” announced in 2013, before the Maidan events in Kiev. Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and a Russian military strategist, gave a lecture at a conference organized at the Academy of Military Sciences in Moscow, where he presented the assumptions of a new generation war. In his concept, information warfare can be as effective as a traditional attack. The new generation war consists in utilizing in a conflict actions and tools aimed at causing disinformation, chaos and destabilization of the enemy’s territory. Cyberspace seems to be a perfect place for this type of operations. 

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