Several Ukraine government websites were down Friday, in what the Foreign Ministry said was a cyberattack, according to Bloomberg.
The websites of Ukraine’s foreign, agriculture and education ministries were among those that were down, some with their content replaced by messages in Russian, Polish and Ukrainian.
“Ukrainians! All your personal data has been uploaded to the public network,” the message said. “All data on your computer is being erased and won’t be recoverable. All information about you has become public, fear and expect the worst.”
A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that the websites were down following a massive hack and that authorities were working to restore services.
A massive cyber attack warning Ukrainians to „be afraid and expect the worst” hit government websites late on Thursday, leaving some websites inaccessible on Friday morning and prompting Kyiv to open an investigation, according to Reuters.
The incident comes after meetings this week between the U.S., its allies and Russia failed to reach a breakthrough with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine. While the Kremlin has denied plans to invade the country, Putin has amassed troops on the border and is demanding security guarantees from the U.S. and its European allies.
The allies have been working to ready a package of sanctions to respond to a potential invasion or further acts of Russian aggression.