A group of Russian hackers, suspected by Ukraine to be collaborating with Russia’s military intelligence, has taken credit for a cyberattack aimed at Kyivstar, the biggest mobile service provider in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s security service, known as SBU, stated that they are currently addressing issues with Kyivstar’s network.

On Tuesday, a ballistic missile attack caused damage to Kyivstar’s network, impacting 24 million users. As a result, these individuals were unable to make phone calls or receive alerts for raids. The attack resulted in over 50 people being injured.

View the video report on the same topic by Lesia Bakalets.

The group known as Solntsepyok admitted to orchestrating the hack on the popular social media site Telegram. They also shared screenshots to prove their ability to breach Kyivstar’s servers.

According to a post on Telegram, we targeted Kyivstar because they offer communication services to the Ukrainian military, government agencies, and security forces. We also warn other offices that support the Ukrainian military to be ready for potential attacks.

Previously, Ukraine had recognized Solntsepyok as a cover for the Russian hacking team known as “sandworm.” This group is associated with the GRU military intelligence agency of the Russian Federation’s General Staff of the Armed Forces.

John Hultquist, the leader of threat analysis at Google’s Mandiant Intelligence, stated that the Sandworm group is the preferred weapon for cyberattacks by Moscow. He also added that no other group poses as great of a threat to Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.

The country of Russia has refuted any connection to the cyberattacks.

According to Solntsepyok, the attacks resulted in the destruction of 10,000 computers and 4,000 servers. However, this claim has been disputed by Kyivstar.

The report contains data from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.