Nov 2025 to read inbox
Hybrid aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine in cyberspace. The aggressor state is constantly expanding its arsenal of offensive cyber weapons, the use of which can have irreparable and irreversible destructive consequences. Cyberattacks of the Russian Federation are aimed, first and foremost, at the ICS of the state bodies of Ukraine and objects of critical information infrastructure to disable them (cyber sabotage), obtain covert access and control, and conduct intelligence and intelligence-subversive activities. Cyber attacks are also actively used by the aggressor state as an element of special information operations to achieve manipulative influence on the population, interfere in election processes and discredit Ukrainian statehood
The Main Directorate of Radio-Electronic and Cyber Warfare of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Main Directorate) is designed to organise the implementation of tasks related to the planning of the cyber defence of Ukraine; the planning and conducting of radio-electronic warfare and cyber warfare; radio frequency spectrum management, and the development of relevant capabilities. The main tasks of the Main Department are the: • planning, organising, preparation and conducting of cyber warfare in the interests of the strategic use of the Defence Forces of Ukraine and other components of the defence forces; • planning and coordination of actions of cyber defence of Ukraine, state authorities, and components of the security and defence sector; • planning, organisation of preparation and conduct of electronic warfare in the interests of strategic use of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other components of the defence forces; • implementation of the powers of the General Staff regarding management in the sphere of use of the radio frequency spectrum by special users by the Law of Ukraine "On Electronic Communications".
The current stage of cyberspace development resembles the interim years between World War I and World War II, when airpower responded to challenges by emerging as a powerful military tool. No comparison does better justice to contemporary cyberspace than airpower during those foundational years
In the years between the world wars, aviation concentrated on defending the nation from adversaries.6 However, some of those defensive capabilities also offered offensive possibilities. T
The cyber mission can work both independently from, and synergistically with, the traditional war-fighting domains across each branch.
Recent calls for NATO to adopt a proactive cyber posture and descriptions of what that would entail are necessary but insufficient for preparing NATO for this forthcoming strategic challenge – NATO should also establish a proactive cyber operational element that continuously campaigns to ensure the security of its member states and partners. It is further proposed that this element would generate an additional benefit of addressing concerns raised by those who argue that the elevation of China in strategic guidance will distract from addressing the Russian strategic challenge.
A notable example of such an operation is the cyber-attack on Viasat Inc.’s KA-SAT satellite, which disrupted Ukrainian civil and military communications just hours before the Russian military aggression on February 24, 20226 . This incident marks the RussianUkrainian conflict as the first to start in the cyber domain.