Ukraine’s PM Orders Every State Body to Form a Cyber Security Team

Ukraine’s prime minister, Serhiy Koretskyi, has ordered the heads of all executive bodies to urgently form cyber security teams, buy software and put it into operation. He announced the instruction on Friday in a post on his official Telegram channel, saying Russia is targeting the country’s digital infrastructure as systematically as its energy system.

The order widens a job that until now has sat mainly with a handful of specialist digital agencies. Koretskyi said those agencies can already fend off attacks that use artificial intelligence, and that he now expects every ministry, agency and state institution to reach the same level.

Koretskyi wants every ministry to reach the level of its digital agencies

“The government is strengthening the cybersecurity of state services. I gave a direct instruction to the heads of all executive bodies to urgently form cybersecurity teams, purchase software, and put it into operation,” Koretskyi wrote, in a translation published by Interfax-Ukraine.

He said the threat is growing on two fronts at once: physical damage to the facilities that host government and business data, and attacks on the software running inside them. “Cyberattacks are also intensifying. The enemy is increasingly using artificial intelligence, and one of the main targets is state information systems and Ukrainian business,” he wrote, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

The post singled out the state’s “key digital bodies” as the model. According to the Reuters report carried by The Straits Times, he said: “Key digital agencies are already able to repel attacks using AI. I expect the same readiness from every state agency and institution.” He did not name the agencies, set a deadline or say how many people each team should have.

About ten Kyiv data centres were damaged in September, the PM says

Koretskyi linked the order to damage on the ground. “Russia is attacking our digital infrastructure as systematically as it is attacking our energy sector,” he said, as quoted by Reuters. In his Telegram post he put the toll at about ten data centres damaged in Kyiv in September alone. Reuters rendered the figure as 10 data centres struck in the capital last month.

The prime minister gave no names or locations. TSN has reported on two Kyiv operators hit by Russian strikes this autumn. Datagroup said its Kyiv data centre cannot be restored after a second strike, while services carried on from backup sites. GigaCenter said a strike critically damaged its Kyiv data centre, although sister companies said their cloud and network services held up. Whether those sites are among the ten Koretskyi counted is not stated.

Backup systems for state bodies received UAH 518.3m in September

The cyber team order follows earlier spending on resilience. In late September, the Cabinet of Ministers allocated UAH 518.3m to strengthen backup information systems of state bodies, Interfax-Ukraine reported, referring to its earlier coverage. Ukrinform also reported the allocation, saying it came from the reserve fund after attacks on data centres.

Backup systems and cyber teams address different failures. Duplicate systems keep a service running when a building is lost. Security teams and software are meant to stop intruders from disrupting or wiping systems in the first place. Koretskyi’s post did not say how much the new software purchases will cost or where the money will come from.

Staffing every ministry is a harder test than buying software

The instruction is short, but it sets a demanding goal. Buying security software can be done quickly through procurement. Building a functioning team in every executive body is slower, because it depends on hiring people with scarce skills, often in competition with private employers and with the specialist agencies that already have them. Koretskyi’s post gives no timetable, headcount or budget for the teams, so there is no public yardstick yet for measuring progress.

The choice of benchmark is also telling. By pointing to the “key digital bodies” that can already counter AI-assisted attacks, the prime minister is effectively admitting that readiness across government is uneven. Attackers tend to look for the weakest link, and a less well-defended ministry can offer a route into shared systems or data.

Finally, the order shows how physical and digital risks are now being treated together. The September money went on backups for when facilities are lost; this instruction targets intrusions. Attacks on Ukrainian businesses, such as the data-wiping attack on a grain logistics firm that ESET attributed to two Russian groups, show why the prime minister listed business alongside state systems as a main target.

What happens next

The heads of executive bodies are expected to act urgently, but no deadline has been published. Further detail may come in Cabinet resolutions, procurement notices or reports from the bodies themselves. Key questions are how many teams are in place by winter, whether central funding follows, and whether the government publishes any figures on attacks repelled. TSN will update this story if the Cabinet releases a formal resolution.

Sources

• Serhiy Koretskyi, official Telegram channel, post of 23 October 2026 (Ukrainian)
• Interfax-Ukraine: Koretsky instructs executive authorities to form cybersecurity teams (English)
• Interfax-Ukraine (Ukrainian)
• Reuters via The Straits Times: Russia steps up attacks on Ukraine’s digital infrastructure, Kyiv says
• Ukrinform (Ukrainian)

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