According to intelligence notes obtained exclusively by the British newspaper "The Times", China launched a massive cyber attack on military and nuclear facilities in Ukraine in preparation for the Russian war.
More than 600 websites belonging to the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv and other institutions have suffered from thousands of hacking attempts coordinated by the Chinese government, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
And the Ukrainian Security Service revealed that "the Chinese attacks - in a clear indication of complicity in the invasion - began before the end of the Winter Olympics and reached their climax on February 23 last", a day before Russian troops and tanks crossed the border.
The security service said China's attacks sought to infiltrate targets ranging from border defense forces to the national bank and railways, and were designed to steal data and explore ways to shut down or disrupt critical defense and civilian infrastructure.
The newspaper noted that Russia also tried to paralyze Ukrainian computer networks and compromise government websites before the war, but the Ukrainian Security Service said that the Chinese attacks can be distinguished through the tools and methods of trademarks of the electronic warfare unit of the People's Liberation Army.
Russia also tried to paralyze Ukrainian computer networks and compromise government websites before the war, but Ukraine's security service said the Chinese attacks could be discerned through the tools and tactics of the branding tools of the People's Liberation Army's electronic warfare unit.
For its part, US intelligence sources indicated that the information related to a Chinese cyber attack on Ukrainian government facilities before the Russian war was accurate, and the Chinese embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
The newspaper noted that when Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the start of the Olympics in Beijing on February 4, the two leaders signed a joint statement declaring that the ties between the two countries were "limitless" and that "there are no areas Cooperation prohibited," Xi denied Putin's demand to postpone the war until after the Olympics.
Shortly thereafter, according to Ukraine's Security Service, the Ukrainian government noticed a sharp rise in computer network exploitation attacks "CNE" (CNE), which are commonly used for reconnaissance and espionage.
The intelligence agency said it had observed "an increase in activity against our country's networks in mid-February with active CNE operations conducted daily," and activity peaked on February 23, the day before the war, with Russian and Chinese cyber attacks.
Ukraine's security service showed the newspaper a series of intelligence notes, believed to have been prepared by another country, outlining the scope and ambition of the hack.
Cyber security experts said the timing appeared to confirm that Moscow had already informed Beijing of its war plans.
“They didn't seem to care about their vision, as they had a goal to get in and get what they needed as quickly as possible," said Tom Heigl, chief threat researcher at US cybersecurity firm SentinelOne. (CNE), it underscores the importance of what they knew was coming."