The special services of the Russian Federation are involved in the malicious software Petya.A attack on computer systems of Ukrainian public and private institutions and companies, which began on June 27, 2017, the Security Service of Ukraine has said.

"The available data, including those obtained through interaction with international anti-virus companies, suggest that the same hacker groups are involved in the attacks, which in December 2016 hit the financial system, transport and energy facilities of Ukraine using TeleBots and Blackenergy. This shows that the special services of the Russian Federation are involved in this attack," the SBU press center said on Saturday.

According to the SBU, the virus infection was planned and implemented in advance, and occurred in several stages on the eve of the national state holiday.

"Despite the fact that the cyber attack gives an impression of a common virus such as ransomware (software for extorting money) created to enrich the cybercriminals, in fact the virus is a cover for a large-scale attack aimed at Ukraine, as evidenced by the lack of a real mechanism for seizing the funds, whose imperfection only confirms the opinion that enrichment was not the goal of the attack," the SBU said.

According to the special services, the cyber attack was aimed at destabilizing the socio-political situation in Ukraine.