📋 Tender Overview
European Union imposed sanctions on three members of the Russian military intelligence (GRU) who carried out a cyberattack against Estonia in May 2020.
Last fall, as a result of a national investigation, Estonia, for the first time in its history, attributed cyberattacks against the state to the perpetrators of the crime, namely three GRU members Yuri Denisov, Nikolay Korchagin, and Vitali Shevchenko, and declared them internationally wanted.
Together with allies and partners, including the United States, Ukraine, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic, a technical guide was published warning of the group's malicious cyber operations. GRU Unit 29155 attacks government institutions, as well as vital infrastructure in the EU, NATO, and other countries, in order to disrupt support for Ukraine.
Today, EU-wide restrictions will be imposed on these same GRU members under a cyber sanctions regime. Supporting the decision at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels today, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that Russia is trying to undermine Western unity and create fear and chaos in society with hybrid activities. “One of the tools of the aggressor is cyber attacks against modern countries – including Estonia – where a large part of services are digital,” Tsahkna said. “However, we are not blind and we see through this pattern.”
Tsahkna added that, in cooperation with international partners, Estonia will continue to work to ensure safety, security and values. “Estonia also stands for all countries to comply with international law in cyberspace.”
In May 2019, the European Union created a sanctions framework, the so-called cyber sanctions regime, which allows the EU to impose targeted restrictive measures to prevent and respond to cyberattacks when they pose an external threat to the EU or its Member States.
This sanctions regime covers cyber-attacks with a significant impact originating from outside the EU or committed outside the EU, using infrastructure located outside the EU, committed by persons or entities established outside the EU or carried out with the support of persons or entities operating outside the EU. The restrictive measures include a travel ban on persons and freezing of assets of persons and entities.
