China launched a massive cyber operation against the Ukrainian military and its nuclear facilities before Russia began its invasion, according to UK intelligence reports obtained by The Times.
The British reports were backed up by Ukraine’s national security service, the SBU, which claimed China coordinated thousands of cyberattacks and hacking attempts on official Ukrainian government sites.
Some of the sites targeted include over 600 websites belonging to Kyiv’s defense ministry, a statement released by SBU claimed.
China’s goal in the attacks was to steal data and explore ways to shut down Ukrainian defenses and civilian infrastructure, the SBU further claimed.
The attacks, which allegedly began prior to the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, peaked on February 23. Russian forces invaded Ukraine 24 hours later.
The SBU stated it is confident in its attribution of the attacks to China due to the “trademark tools and methods” used by the Chinese military’s cyber units.
Responding to SBU’s claims, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) told The Times that it is “investigating these allegations with our international partners.”
Intelligence reports from the US indicate that the information gathered by British and Ukrainian intelligence is accurate, the report also stated.