Ukrainian cyberattack cripples Russian railways and disrupts Tupolev design bureau systems

Ukrainian military intelligence has launched a major cyber offensive against Russian infrastructure, targeting both the national railway system and a key aerospace company in a coordinated digital assault. The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR) confirmed responsibility for the cyberattacks, which disabled services of Russian Railways (RZD) and disrupted operations at the Tupolev Design Bureau.

According to reports confirmed by Ukrainian intelligence sources speaking to Interfax-Ukraine and RBC-Ukraine, the cyberattack on Russian Railways crippled the carrier’s digital infrastructure. The attack rendered the official RZD website and associated online services inaccessible, effectively cutting Russian users off from essential rail services, including scheduling, ticketing, and mobile applications.

The cyber operation specifically targeted the network’s domain name system (DNS), with a severe impact on the NS servers responsible for converting domain names into IP addresses. As a result, the primary domain rzd.ru and all its subdomains were rendered inoperative. Without functioning DNS, none of the domain’s digital services could be accessed by users.

Russian Railways acknowledged the attack through its press service, noting that the infrastructure was hit with a sustained digital assault peaking at 6 gigabytes and nearly 2.5 million packets per second. The scale and sophistication of the attack point to a deliberate and strategic disruption effort by Ukrainian cyber forces.

In a parallel strike on June 4, Ukraine’s cyber specialists also targeted the Tupolev Design Bureau, a major Russian aerospace company responsible for designing military and civilian aircraft. Details of the impact on Tupolev’s systems remain undisclosed, but the timing and targeting indicate a broader campaign against Russian defense-related infrastructure.

These latest operations follow a series of earlier cyberattacks by HUR. In summer 2024, Ukraine’s military intelligence conducted a sustained week-long cyber offensive against Russia’s financial sector, including major banks and government institutions. On January 4, coinciding with the birthday of HUR chief Kyrylo Budanov, Ukrainian hackers disrupted operations at RegionTransService, a logistics company integral to Russian rail operations.