U.K. will provide £ 25 million to Ukraine to strengthen their cyber defence programme and defend vital Government services
The United Kingdom (U.K.) has announced to strengthen the cyber defence programme in Ukraine, protecting the country’s critical national infrastructure from crippling Russian attacks.
The programme, which supports Ukraine’s Government to rapidly respond to and defend vital Government services against debilitating cyber-attacks, will be boosted by an investment of £ 25 million and a 2-year expansion.
Of this, £ 16 million will be provided by the U.K., and another £ 9 million would come from contributions from international allies. It is the latest tranche of U.K. support to Ukraine as the country mounts its counteroffensive against Russian forces that have brutally invaded the country, using all domains to sow instability and attempt to destroy Ukraine’s rightful sovereignty.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister of the U.K. – Rishi Sunak said, “Russia’s appalling attacks on Ukraine are not limited to their barbaric land invasion, but also involve sickening attempts to attack their cyber infrastructure that provides vital services, from banking to energy supplies, to innocent Ukrainian people.”
He further said, “This funding is critical to stopping those onslaughts, hardening Ukraine’s cyber defences and increasing the country’s ability to detect and disable the malware targeted at them.”
The Prime Minister, who will make a case for the private sector to join the counteroffensive against Russia by supporting Ukraine through investment, will say that it is vital the international community hardens Ukraine’s defences to enable it to protect and grow investment into the country.
Ukraine has successfully fought back a number of cyber-attacks by Russian forces, including destructive wiper-ware attacks and covert espionage-ware attacks.
The U.K.-funded Ukraine Cyber Programme (UCP) uses world-leading expertise from both the private and public sectors to protect Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure and vital public services. The support, which builds on the Foreign Secretary’s announcement of £ 6.35 million for the programme last year, will also fund and provide forensic capabilities to enable Ukrainian cyber experts to analyse system compromises, attribute attackers and build better evidence to prosecute these indiscriminate attacks.
In addition to boosting cyber defences, the U.K. has also stepped up its military support to Ukraine. This week, the U.K. contributed a further £ 250 million to the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), which announced it would provide a significant package of air defence, including radars, guns and ammunition to Kyiv to protect Ukrainian cities from indiscriminate Russian attacks.
Post that, the U.K. delivered long-range missile strike capability Storm Shadow in May 2023, which has provided Ukraine with a game-changing capability to defend itself from Russian attacks and degrade the capability of invading Russian forces
