Russia accused in major NATO-targeted cyberattacks; $10m bounties offered

The federal prosecutor's office in Baltimore announced charges on Thursday against five Russian military intelligence GRU officers. They are allegedly responsible for a cyberattack on Ukraine's state institutions just before the 2021 invasion, as well as on the transport and logistics sectors of NATO countries supporting Ukraine.

The indictment published on Thursday updates a case filed in June against GRU civilian collaborator Amin Stigal for the WhisperGate malware attack, which aimed to destroy Ukrainian government networks in January 2021. The accused include the GRU hacker unit 29155 commander, Yuri Denisov, and his subordinates Denis Denisenko, Dmitry Goloszoubov, Vladislav Borovkov, and Nikolai Korchagin.

As FBI agent Bill DelBagno, who is responsible for the case, stated during a press briefing, this attack—during which the Russians also stole and published sensitive data of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians—can be considered the "first shot" of the 2021 Russian invasion.

In addition to that attack, the accused GRU officers were also responsible for a series of other subsequent cyberattacks, including on the transportation infrastructure of a Central European country supporting Ukraine in October 2022.

Although the document does not name the country, its description of the incident is similar to that in a Microsoft report on a ransomware attack against Polish and Ukrainian transport and logistics companies during the same period. Microsoft reported at the time that the attack caused some damage.

In addition to that incident, the hackers attempted to infiltrate networks related to infrastructure in 26 NATO countries, including the American National Security Agency (NSA).

In response to the charges, the State Department announced on Thursday a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification and location of members of the GRU cyber team. Information about them was also passed on to Interpol.

"They are marked people. We know who they are. There's a reward on their head, and we're going to pursue them relentlessly," said Deputy Attorney General Matthew Olsen. "The message is clear. To the GRU, to the Russians, we are onto you," he added.