About Article

It was a surprise when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 did not appear to be accompanied from the outset by Russian cyber operations aimed at extensively disabling Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure – for example, its telecommunications, banking, transport, water supply and energy supplies. As the war progressed, however, diametrically opposed views arose about the character and significance of the war’s emerging cyber dimension, ranging from ‘full-on, full-scale cyberwar’ to more cyber ‘fizzle’ than ‘bang’.1 Russia’s vaunted cyber capabilities came to be questioned, as was the general wartime utility of cyber operations. What is clear is that the Russia–Ukraine war of 2022 provides valuable insight into what the cyber dimension of a modern war might look like.