Ukraine's Kyivstar restores services after cyberattack, parent Veon says

(Reuters) -Telecoms company Veon said on Tuesday that its unit Kyivstar, Ukraine's biggest mobile operator, has restored all types of communications services it provides, after they were disrupted by a mass cyberattack last week.

Kyivstar had said on Friday it had restored mobile internet and international roaming throughout Ukraine, while on Tuesday, its parent Veon added that other services, including fixed connectivity, mobile voice, and SMS, were now also running.

The attack on Dec. 12 appeared to be the largest cyberattack since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It had knocked out services, damaged IT infrastructure and put millions of people in danger of not receiving alerts of potential Russian air assaults.

"As of today, 99% of Kyivstar's base stations in territory controlled by Ukrainian government are operational," Veon said in a statement.

On Wednesday, a group called Solntsepyok, believed by Ukraine's security service SBU to be affiliated with Russian military intelligence, said in a post on the Telegram messenger app that it carried out the attack.

(Reporting by Olivier Sorgho; editing by Christina Fincher and David Evans)