A warning message in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish was displayed on the official website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry after a massive cyberattack on January 14, 2022, in this illustration taken January 14, 2022. KYIV MOSCOW, Jan 14, Reuters -- Ukraine was hit by a massive cyberattack on Friday warning its citizens to expect the worst, Russia, which has massed more than 100,000 troops on its neighbour's frontier, released television pictures of more troops deploying in a drill.
The developments came after there was no breakthrough between Russia and Western states, which feared Moscow could launch a new attack on a country it invaded in 2014.
A senior U.S. diplomat said the drumbeat of war is loud.
Russia denies plans to attack Ukraine, but it says it could take unspecified military action unless demands are met, including a promise by the NATO alliance never to admit Kyiv.
Russia said troops in its far east would practice deploying troops to far-away military sites for exercises as part of an inspection. Defence Ministry footage released by the RIA news agency showed numerous armoured vehicles and other military hardware being loaded onto trains in the Eastern Military District.
This is likely cover for the units moving towards Ukraine, said Rob Lee, a military analyst and fellow at the U.S. Foreign Policy Research Institute.
The movements indicated Russia has no intention of dialling down tensions over Ukraine, and using its troop build-up to force the West to the negotiating table and press sweeping demands for security guarantees - key elements of which have been described by the United States as non-starters.
Ukrainian authorities were investigating a massive cyberattack that hit government agencies, including the ministry of foreign affairs, cabinet of ministers, and security and defence council.
All of your personal data was uploaded to the public network. A message visible on hacked government websites, written in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish, is impossible to restore all the data on the computer.
All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect the worst. This is for your past, present and future. Ukraine's foreign ministry spokeswoman said it was too early to say who was behind the attack, but Russia had previously been behind similar strikes in the past.
Russia has denied being behind cyber attacks on Ukraine, but it hasn't been immediately known.
The EU's top diplomat condemned the attack and said the EU's political and security committee and cyber units would meet to see how to respond and help Kyiv.
We are going to mobilise all our resources to help Ukraine tackle this cyber attack. Josep Borrell told reporters at the EU foreign ministers meeting in the western French city of Brest that they knew it could happen.
It is hard to say who is behind it, but we can imagine. I don't blame anyone because I have no proof. The United States warned on Thursday that the threat of a Russian military invasion was high. Russia has denied that.
Moscow said the dialogue was continuing, but it was at a dead end as it tried to persuade the West to stop Ukraine from joining NATO and roll back decades of alliance expansion in Europe.
The United States and NATO have rejected those demands, but they said they are willing to talk about arms control, missile deployments, confidence-building measures and limits on military exercises.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow was waiting for a point-by-point written response to its proposals.