IT Army of Ukraine
The IT Army of Ukraine () is a volunteer cyberwarfare organisation created at the end of February 2022 to fight against digital intrusion of Ukrainian information and cyberspace after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The group also conducts offensive cyberwarfare operations and Ukrainian government cyber official Victor Zhora said its enlisted hackers would only attack military targets. Formation. On 26 February 2022, the Minister of Digital Transformation and First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov announced the creation of the IT Army. According to Reuters, the Ukrainian government asked  for volunteers from the country's hacker underground to help protect critical infrastructure and conduct cyber spying missions against Russian troops. Yegor Aushev, the co-founder of a Ukrainian cybersecurity firm, wrote, "Ukrainian cybercommunity! It's time to get involved in the cyber defense of our country," asking hackers and cybersecurity experts to submit an application listing their specialties, such as malware development and professional references. Aims. The volunteers who joined the group are divided into offensive and defensive cyber units. While the offensive volunteer unit would help Ukraine's military conduct digital espionage operations against invading Russian forces, the  defensive unit would be employed to defend infrastructure such as power plants and water systems. The Ukrainian government used Twitter and Telegram to share a list of Russian and Belarusian targets for the army to attack. Russian ransomware operators responded by offering their assistance to counter the Ukrainian effort.