Ukrainian troops have recaptured a spoil heap on the outskirts of Horlivka, in Donetsk region. A powerful cyberattack hits Ukraine\u2019s largest mobile operator, knocking out service to millions. Ukraine is looking into options in case its allies fail to come up with financial aid, according to Bloomberg\u2019s reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An assault group of the 24th<\/sup> \u201cKing Danylo\u201d separate mechanized brigade has recaptured a spoil heap on the outskirts of Horlivka, a town in Donetsk region that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. Ukrainian troops have planted the Ukrainian flag there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Zelenskyi said on social media on Tuesday: \u201cI thank our heroes, the assault group of our royal brigade, the 24th Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo Halytskyi! Despite the challenging conditions, they captured one of the slagheaps within Horlivka and took over enemy positions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ukrainian flag is now flying atop the spoil heap, he added. \u201cHorlivka is Ukraine! Donbas is Ukraine!\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On December 12, Kyivstar, Ukraine\u2019s largest mobile operator came under a powerful cyberattack that knocked out mobile and internet services to millions of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The national roaming scheme was also offline, so that Kyivstar users could not roam on a different provider. The mobile company was not able to pass on user data to other service providers, an official from the Ministry of Digital Transformation explained to NV Business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Following major network outages, it was \u201cunclear\u201d when service would be restored, Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov said in a television appearance. \u201cKyivstar has not yet given estimated time of restoration. [That was] a very powerful hacker attack on the company\u2019s virtual infrastructure. The IT infrastructure has been partially destroyed. We are still assessing how much time it will take to restore the service. We have not issued any statements yet,\u201d Komarov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe war with Russia has many dimensions and one of them is in cyberspace,\u201d he said in a separate video address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnfortunately, this morning, Kyivstar became the target of a powerful hacker attack that temporarily disrupted mobile and internet services. It is yet unclear when [the company] would be able to restore connection. We are working to restore communication as soon as possible,\u201d Komarov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a press statement, Ukraine\u2019s Security Service said it had opened a criminal investigation into the cyberattack on the national mobile service provider, Kyivstar. One line of inquiry would be whether Russia\u2019s security services were behind the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine\u2019s Security Service also said it had sent an operative-investigative team to work closely with Kyivstar technicians shortly after the network failure. Security service\u2019s cyber specialists continue to assist the operator and coordinate the work of all government agencies in order to restore service as soon as possible, the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Policymakers in Kyiv are trying to work out how they can fund Ukraine\u2019s war effort if its allies fail to come through with promised aid, Bloomberg said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The financial toolkit includes raising tax revenue, an obvious challenge in a battered economy, or cutting spending for an already beleaguered public. Monetary-policy options are devaluing the Ukrainian currency or returning to the central bank\u2019s taps, a move Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told Bloomberg would have \u201cnegative consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kyiv plans to cover its budget deficit, amounting to around one-fifth of economic output, primarily with more than USD 40 billion in external financing next year. The Ukrainian finance chief said last month that more than two-thirds of that funding hadn\u2019t yet been confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf the shortage of foreign aid inflows becomes larger than several billion US dollars, the authorities will only have unpleasant options to choose from,\u201d said Olena Bilan, chief economist at Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another monetary option is tried and tested: printing money. Last year the NBU (Ukraine\u2019s central bank) issued almost 400 billion hryvnia (USD 10.9 billion) through purchases of government-issued bonds, mostly in the first months of the war, plugging monthly gaps before international donors created a steady flow of funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The International Monetary Fund, which is set to disburse USD 5.3 billion in loans next year, set limits to the practice as part of its conditions: in case of an external funding shortfall, Kyiv pledged to limit monetary financing to about 50 billion hryvnia per quarter after reaching a ceiling on market borrowing, according to the IMF.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Powerful cyberattack hits Ukraine\u2019s largest mobile operator, knocking out service to millions<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine looking into options in case its allies fail to come up with financial aid, Bloomberg says<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n