The Dec. 12 cyberattack on Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, Kyivstar, was unrelated to the return of sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman from London to Moscow, the former head of the company, Petro Chernyshov, said in an interview with NV on Jan. 5.
“Fridman had zero involvement with Kyivstar’s network or its IT systems,” Chernyshov said.
“He did not understand its structure as he is a financier, not a technical expert. Connecting these two events is, in my opinion, entirely impossible.”
Fridman had previously owned 47.8% of Kyivstar shares, prior to their seizure by the Ukrainian state on Dec. 18. Other Russian oligarchs, Petro Aven, and Andriy Kosogov, controlled the rest of the shares, via a Dutch holding company called VEON Holdings B.V.
Describing the attack on Kyivstar’s network as a “very complex story,” Chernyshov suggested the possibility of prolonged infiltration, speculating that hackers obtained an employee’s password with significant IT system access.
“We still don’t know how they got this access, who gave it to them, and why — whether it’s tied to treason, money, or just an accident,” said Chernyshov.
“My hunch is someone was after some extra stars on their shoulder straps.”
Read also: Russian hackers had access to Kyivstar network at least since May 2023, says SBU
He also dismissed the theory that the Russians disrupted the operator’s operations after the Ukraine’s SBU security service discovered Kyivstar SIM cards used for directing Shaheds for strikes in Ukraine.
On Dec. 12, Russian hackers took downKyivstar’s systems for three days. The SBU believes that the hackers have had access to Kyivstar’s network since at least May 2023.
Prior to this, Kyivstar had officially denied that Russian hackers had penetrated their systems and subscribers’ personal data for months.
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