The White House accused the Russian military of sponsoring a costly June 2017 cyber attack on the Ukrainian government and their allies in a Thursday afternoon statement.
“In June 2017, the Russian military launched the most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history. The attack, dubbed “NotPetya,” quickly spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia, and the Americas,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The NotPetya attack caused approximately 1.2 billion dollars in damage and affected several major European corporations that maintain business ties to Ukraine. The attack “was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia’s involvement in the ongoing conflict. This was also a reckless and indiscriminate cyber-attack that will be met with international consequences,” the White House continued.
The White House statement comes just hours after the government of the U.K. made a similar statement of accusation saying, “the UK government judges that the Russian government, specifically the Russian military, was responsible for the destructive NotPetya cyber attack.”
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, strongly denied the charge from the U.K. saying “we categorically dismiss such accusations; we consider them unsubstantiated and groundless. It’s not more than a continuation of the Russophobic campaign which is not based on any evidence.”
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