Russia-linked hackers breached more than 170 email accounts belonging to Ukrainian prosecutors and investigators over the past several months, according to a Reuters report on Wednesday, in what cybersecurity researchers said was a broad espionage campaign targeting officials probing corruption and Russian collaborators.
Ukrainian Anti-Corruption, Defense Officials Targeted
According to the report, the compromised accounts included officials at Ukraine’s Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in the Field of Defense, a wartime body focused on corruption and military espionage cases, as well as the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) and the Prosecutor’s Training Center.
Among those affected was Yaroslava Maksymenko, ARMA’s former chief, according to the data. Reuters also reported that 44 mailboxes at the Prosecutor’s Training Center were breached, including one belonging to Deputy Director Oleg Duka. At least one senior employee at Ukraine’s Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office was also compromised, the publication reported.
Researchers Link Campaign To Russian State Interests
The data was discovered after hackers allegedly left logs and stolen emails exposed online, allowing British and American cyber threat researchers at Ctrl-Alt-Intel to review evidence of at least 284 compromised inboxes between September 2024 and March 2026.
Ctrl-Alt-Intel attributed the operation to a Russia-linked hacking group. The operation was first described by the group last month in a blog post. Reuters reviewed the underlying data.
Independent cybersecurity researchers who reviewed the data also told the publication that the campaign was consistent with Russian state-backed espionage, though they differed on the specific group responsible.
Beyond Ukraine, the campaign also reportedly affected military and government-linked accounts in Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, underscoring the scale of the operation.
The Russian Embassy in Washington and Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s requests for comment.
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