Local authorities in Crimea warn of Internet disruptions due to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks targeting telecommunications providers.
“Massive” DDoS attacks, which overwhelm targeted networks with an avalanche of junk Internet traffic, were launched against Crimean telecommunications companies on Wednesday and are still continuing, according to Crimean officials.
“Work is underway to repel the attacks. There may be disruptions in the internet service,” said Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Crimean region, which has been occupied by Russian forces since 2014.
In Sevastopol, Crimea’s largest city, attackers primarily targeted local internet provider Miranda Media, which is connected to Russia’s national telecom provider Rostelecom. Miranda Media was sanctioned by the European Union in 2023 for providing services to illegal authorities and institutions in Crimea in the interests of Russia.
Several local subscribers complained on the company’s Telegram channel that their internet connection has been “terrible” for the past two days, but Miranda Media has not issued an official statement about the outages. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
“The enemy attacks this particular operator for a reason,” a Sevastopol government spokesman said on Telegram. Miranda Media provides “main communication channels” for the city’s emergency call center, they added.
The attack temporarily disrupted call center operations, but local authorities announced Thursday that they have restored its functionality.
Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the cyberattacks on “several of Russia’s largest Internet providers” operating in Crimea, but did not provide additional details.
An anonymous HUR source told the Ukrainian public broadcaster that the agency “systematically” attacks Russian digital infrastructure, including internet providers.
In May, Ukrainian military hackers claimed responsibility for an attack on a major Internet provider in the Russian city of Belgorod, located about 20 miles north of the Ukrainian border. The target company allegedly provides services to state and military institutions.
Attacks on Russian Internet providers are also carried out by other hacker groups linked to Ukraine. Last October, a group of cyber activists known as the IT Army claimed responsibility for taking down Miranda Media and two other Russian internet providers operating in Crimea.
At the time, Miranda Media claimed that the attack was “carefully planned by cybercriminals.”
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