The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomes the decision of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to impose sanctions on individuals and entities involved in the Russian Federation's malicious cyber activities, including Military Unit No. 29155 (Aegaeon-Impulse), the operators of CARR/Z-PENTEST, and the developers of the LUMMA Infostealer malware.

For Ukraine, this decision is of particular significance, as the sanctions imposed on Military Unit No. 29155, its affiliated individuals - Roman Puntus, Ivan Kasianenko, and Yevhenii Bashev; the operators of CARR/Z-PENTEST, Yuliia Pankratova and Denys Dehtiarenko; and the developers of LUMMA Infostealer, Maksym Voronin and Maksym Hordiienko, represent an important step towards holding accountable those responsible for cyber espionage, cyber sabotage, the theft of sensitive information, and other forms of criminal activity in cyberspace.

Ukraine highly appreciates the United Kingdom's consistent leadership in strengthening international cybersecurity and increasing sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation.

The sanctions imposed on the operators of CARR/Z-PENTEST and the developers of LUMMA Infostealer once again draw the international community's attention to Russia's use of commercial companies and software developers to facilitate acts of cyber aggression against the governments and peoples of European states.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on international partners to continue coordinated efforts to impose sanctions on all individuals and entities involved in Russia's malicious cyber activities, with the aim of depriving the aggressor state of its ability to conduct cyber aggression and strengthening international security, including in the use of information and communication technologies.

We particularly welcome the coordinated three-pronged sanctions response to Russia’s malicious activities in cyberspace, namely the simultaneous imposition of stringent restrictive measures by the United Kingdom and the European Union, as well as the adoption by the North Atlantic Council of a statement condemning Russia’s criminal activities in cyberspace.