Ukraine hit by ‘massive’ cyber-attack on government websites

Ukraine has been hit by a "massive" cyber-attack, with the websites of several government departments including the ministry of foreign affairs and the education ministry knocked out.

Officials said it was too early to draw any conclusions but they pointed to a "long record" of Russian cyber assaults against Ukraine, with the attack coming after security talks between Moscow and the US and its allies this week ended in stalemate.

The message reproduced the Ukrainian flag and map crossed out. It mentioned the Ukrainian insurgent army, or UPA, which fought against the Soviet Union during the second world war. There was also a reference to "historical land".

In a message to the Guardian, the foreign ministry's spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, said: "As a result of a massive cyber-attack, the website of the ministry of foreign affairs and other government agencies are temporarily down."

He added: "Our specialists have already started restoring the work of IT systems and the cyber-police has opened an investigation."

Nato's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, condemned the attacks. Borrell said the EU's political and security committee and cyber units would meet to decide how to respond and to support Kyiv.

"We are going to mobilise all our resources to help Ukraine to tackle this. Sadly, we knew it could happen," he said. He added: "It's difficult to say [who is behind it]. I can't blame anybody as I have no proof. But we can imagine."