Military Cyber Activities in Russia’s War Against Ukraine and Their Significance for the Debates on the Containment of a Cyberwar

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing war have, among many other security certainties, demonstrated for the first time the role of cyberspace in an open war of aggression and revealed developments worth considering. The objective of this paper is to analyze military activities in cyberspace in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine based on publicly available information, and to assess them in terms of the previously prevailing notion of cyberwar as opposed to its actual role. Based on this, possible conclusions are considered, firstly regarding the future significance of cyber activities for Russia in times of peace and conflict in terms of the general military use of cyber assets, and secondly with regard to future international debates on the containment of cyberwar and the harmful use of cyber assets.