“The United Kingdom strongly supports Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Unfortunately, ‘Georgian Dream’ has distanced itself from Euro-Atlantic cooperation, yet the threat from Russia persists, including in cyberspace,” reads a statement released by the UK Embassy in Georgia on social media.

According to the statement, the United Kingdom and Georgia have worked together to strengthen cyber resilience and to publicly confirm this attack.

“Together with the European Union, NATO, and a broad coalition of states, the United Kingdom has condemned Russia’s irresponsible, destructive, and destabilizing hybrid activities directed against the United Kingdom, Ukraine, NATO allies, and partners. In response to Russia’s ongoing hostile actions, the United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on four organizations and 21 agents of Russian military intelligence for hybrid activities aimed at undermining the security of the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and global security.

The sanctioned entities include a unit of Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, which conducted online reconnaissance in 2022 to plan missile strikes on Mariupol, including the strike that destroyed the Mariupol theater, where hundreds of civilians, including children, were killed.

Sanctions were also imposed on three leaders of Russia’s ‘Africa Initiative.’ The ‘Africa Initiative’ is part of a Russian-funded ‘Foreign Information Manipulation and Influence’ (FIMI) platform that employs Russian intelligence officers to conduct information operations in West Africa. The ‘Africa Initiative’ sought to discredit life-saving global health programs in the region by spreading baseless conspiracy theories to promote the Kremlin’s political agenda.

The identified activities further confirm that hybrid attacks, including cyberattacks and the spread of disinformation, are tools of Russia’s campaign to destabilize Europe and wage its brutal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine.

In October 2019, Georgia also became a victim of a damaging cyberattack by Russia’s military intelligence. In February 2020, the United Kingdom and its partners revealed that these attacks were part of Russia’s long-standing hostile destabilization campaign. The United Kingdom clearly stated that these cyberattacks, carried out by the GRU, were aimed at undermining Georgia’s sovereignty, sowing discord, and disrupting the daily lives of the Georgian people.

The United Kingdom strongly supports Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The United Kingdom and Georgia have worked together to strengthen cyber resilience and to publicly confirm this attack. Unfortunately, ‘Georgian Dream’ has distanced itself from Euro-Atlantic cooperation, yet the threat from Russia persists, including in cyberspace,” the statement reads.