UNSC in New York Condemns Russian Cyber-attacks on Georgia

On Friday, in the framework of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), The United States, Estonia and the United Kingdom publicly denounced the Russian cyber-attack on Georgia carried out in 2019.

“Today at the #UNSC @EstoniaUN, @UKUN_NewYork and @USUN condemned the extensive and disruptive #cyberattacks on Georgia by Russian GRU in October 2019. We thank our partners for their strong support to #Georgia in condemning this brazen act against Georgia and its people!” reads the Georgian UN page on Twitter. 

In 2019, cyber-attacks were carried out against 2,000 websites, including administrative websites of the Georgian government. The attacks even reached the courts of Georgia, NGOs and private organizations, making them inoperable.

Although the Georgian intelligence service investigated and claimed that the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate launched the cyber-attack, the Russian side denied any involvement.

The three countries issued a joint statement, where it can be read: “We are clear that Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, conducted these cyber-attacks in an attempt to sow discord and disrupt the lives of ordinary Georgian people. These cyberattacks are part of Russia’s long-running campaign of hostile and destabilizing activity against Georgia and are part of a wider pattern of malign activity”.

This was the first time the cyber-attacks were formally deliberated as an independent matter at the UN Security Council.

By Beka Alexishvili