Ukrainian military plans new Cyber Forces branch amid ongoing Russia’s war

The new branch aims to strengthen defense capabilities in cyberspace alongside land, sea, air, and space domains.

Oct 24, 2024 - 22:00

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Ukraine’s Armed Forces plan to establish Cyber Forces as a separate military branch, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced in a Facebook post on 24 October.

Currently, two major Ukrainian players in cyber domain are the Main Directorate of Intelligence and the Security Service. Also, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the Ministry of Digital Transformation launched the IT Army of Ukraine, a volunteer cyberwarfare organization, which primarily targets Russian state-run online platforms and digital infrastructure through DDoS attacks and hacking operations.

The concept was discussed during a working meeting chaired by Lieutenant General Anatolii Barhylevych, Chief of the General Staff, the General Staff reported. The meeting included military representatives, members of the Parliamentary Committee on Security, Defense and Intelligence, and experts.

According to the General Staff, participants examined key provisions for establishing Cyber Forces, considering the experience of leading nations’ cyber military units. They analyzed Ukraine’s Defense Forces’ experience in cyberspace operations during the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion.

“Creating Cyber Forces as a separate branch will significantly strengthen the capabilities of the Ukrainian military,” the General Staff emphasized, adding that it would ensure effective planning and implementation of a full spectrum of tasks in cyberspace, which is recognized as a separate operational domain alongside land, sea, air, and space.

Earlier in October, the Ministry of Defense established a new Cyber Incident Response Center as a separate structural unit, according to Militarnyi. The center’s personnel will provide 24/7 monitoring and response to cyber incidents, expanding the scope of responsibility previously held by the cybersecurity team within the Ministry’s Innovation Center.

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