At the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in the Ramstein format on 23 January, the Netherlands joined the IT coalition, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reported on 27 January.
According to the statement, the Netherlands has already contributed 10 million euros (over $10 million).
The IT Coalition is a special group of states within the framework of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Ramstein format. The coalition, led by Estonia and Luxembourg, aims to support Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces in IT, communications, and cybersecurity.
Since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has increased its cyberattacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. On 25 January, cyberattacks targeted Ukrainian e-services, including national gas supplier Naftogaz, postal service Ukrposhta, and the Shliakh border crossing system.
In December 2023, Russia targeted Ukraine’s biggest telecommunications operator, Kyivstar, and one of the country’s leading banks, Monobank. It took several weeks for the Kyivstar to fix its usual operations.
In addition to the Netherlands, 11 other countries are members of the IT coalition: Ukraine, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Japan.
Separately from the Netherlands, during the work of the Contact Group, Denmark allocated 91 million Danish crowns ($13.2 million) for Ukraine’s cyber defense within the IT coalition.
The funds will go to cybersecurity projects for Ukraine’s Armed Forces and Defense Ministry and are essential to the long-term support of cyber defense in Ukraine.
According to Kateryna Chernohorenko, the Deputy Minister of Defense for Digital Development, Transformation, and Digitalization, technology can help turn positional warfare into maneuver warfare. The IT coalition is designed to provide the digital foundation for deploying new technological solutions.
“I am grateful to the partners who continue to support us in every area, especially in IT, cybersecurity, and innovation,” she said.
Estonia and Luxembourg made contributions worth 500,000 euros ($72,000) and 10 million euros (over $10 million) to the IT coalition, respectively. Lithuania and Latvia also provided material assistance through licenses and equipment.
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