Cybercrimes in Ukraine (2013 – 6 m. 2025)

Cybercrime in Ukraine’s current situation is a complex social phenomenon characterised by a combination of general criminal offences and politically motivated crimes committed by Russian special services with the aim of weakening Ukraine’s defence capabilities[1].

Of particular concern in this context are the activities of so-called ‘bot farms,’ anonymous channels in numerous messengers, whose creation and operation are controlled and financed by Russian special services. They are used to spreading disinformation among the population, undermine trust in public authorities, escalate political tensions, and complicate the mobilisation and staffing of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is also necessary to point out the systematic cyber sabotage against critical infrastructure, which is also used by Russia to weaken Ukraine’s defence capabilities[2].

It is important to note that the issue of cyberterrorism was put on the primary agenda of the European Union in direct connection with the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

In its press release of May 19, 2022, the Council of the European Union stressed that the cyberattack had taken place one hour before Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 thus facilitating the military aggression. This cyberattack had a significant impact, causing indiscriminate communication outages and disruptions across several public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine, as well as affecting several EU Member States.

The Council of the European Union underlined that ‘this unacceptable cyberattack is yet another example of Russia’s continued pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, which also formed an integral part of its illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Such behaviour is contrary to the expectations set by all UN Member States, including the Russian Federation, of responsible State behaviour and the intentions of States in cyberspace’[3].

The Council of the European Union stressed that ‘cyberattacks targeting Ukraine, including against critical infrastructure, could spill over into other countries and cause systemic effects putting the security of Europe’s citizens at risk’[4].

Focusing on cybercrimes in Ukraine, we should note that we use the term ‘cybercrime,’ although the full name of the relevant section of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is ‘criminal offences in the field of the use of electronic computers, systems and networks, computer networks and electronic communication networks’.

The first thing to note in this section of the monograph is that, unfortunately, the analysis of police statistics does not allow us to distinguish between cybercrimes committed by Ukrainian citizens or other individuals in the course of traditional criminal activity (mainly for gain) and crimes committed by Russian special services or their agents.

Yes, 2022 certainly saw an explosive growth in cybercrime, although, on the other hand, an even greater ‘explosion’ of cybercrime took place in 2017.

On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the War has demonstrated a more than significant increase in the number of cybercrimes, with the number of such crimes growing significantly each year. Even the first half of 2025 was no exception.

Thus, in the first six months of 2025, the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies registered 2008 criminal proceedings for cybercrimes (1477 criminal proceedings with identified suspects), which is 49,5% of the total number of similar crimes registered in 2024 (4055 criminal proceedings).

Here, we can have a look at police statistics of crime of the unauthorised interference with the operation of electronic computers, automated systems, computer networks or telecommunications networks (Article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Overall, police statistics on this crime reflect the general statistics on cybercrime in Ukraine, but there is one exception. This exception is the crime of unauthorised interference with electronic networks.

It is interesting to note that, unlike the total number of cybercrimes, the number of crimes of this type decreased significantly in 2024.

Similarly, the number of crimes of this type registered in the first half of 2025 also did not show a significant increase compared to 2024.

[1] Galushko, P. (2023). Cybercrime in Ukraine in the context of war as a subject of criminological analysis. Theoretical issues of jurisprudence and problems of law enforcement: challenges of the 21st century. Kharkiv, 2023. P.127.

[2] Galushko, P. (2023). Cybercrime in Ukraine in the context of war as a subject of criminological analysis. Theoretical issues of jurisprudence and problems of law enforcement: challenges of the 21st century. Kharkiv, 2023. P.128.

[3] Council of the European Union (2022). Russian cyber operations against Ukraine: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union. Council of the European Union. May 10, 2022. Source: www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/05/10/russian-cyber-operations-against-ukraine-declaration-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-european-union

[4] Council of the European Union (2022). Russian cyber operations against Ukraine: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union. Council of the European Union. May 10, 2022. Source: www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/05/10/russian-cyber-operations-against-ukraine-declaration-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-european-union