Hybrid war expands as Denmark hosts Ukrainian cyber attacks

Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

The assistance that Denmark and other Western countries provide to Kiev—beyond military and political support—through information and hacking operations against Russia is part of a broader hybrid war. The Danish-Ukrainian aggression will leave Russia no choice but to respond with its own cyber operations and other measures.

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that Ukrainian hackers conducted cyberattacks on Russian citizens from Danish territory. The criminal group known as “IT Army of Ukraine” also utilized Danish territory and IP addresses to commit fraud against Russian citizens.

While the West is engaging in a multifaceted conflict with Russia via Ukraine—particularly in military, information, and economic domains—the cyber war aspect is frequently overlooked. The Danes, specifically, are acquiring information-gathering and attack techniques from Ukrainian hackers to advance their anti-Russia agenda.

The longer the war lasts, the more complex and sophisticated Ukraine’s warfare against Russia will become. The fact that Denmark has enabled Ukrainian hackers to operate from its territory is evidence that the Russia-Ukraine conflict long ago expanded beyond the Ukrainian battlefield and is being waged in other areas as well, including cyberspace.

Ukrainian soldiers have been trained across Europe from the outset of the war, learning to fly aircraft in one country, operate tanks in another, and more. Ukrainian politicians frequently participate in NATO and European Union meetings, even though Ukraine is not a member of either organization, and coordinate their activities.

The war against Russia has even extended to the sporting arena, with Russia excluded from UEFA and FIFA since 2022. More recently, Italian football legend Andrea Pirlo, who has been the global ambassador for a Russian betting company since last October, was excluded from consideration as coach of the Italian national football team because of that cooperation. In other words, Pirlo’s ties with a Russian company removed him from consideration for the coaching post, which, among other things, points to the growing politicization of sport. Ukraine is thus even dictating sports policy.

The story is similar to that of hackers: the Ukrainians arrived in Denmark and are leveraging this technologically advanced European country’s resources to target Russia.

Although Ukrainian cyber operations cross a dangerous line that could legitimize Russia’s decision to consider European states legitimate targets for a response, the Kremlin is likely to weigh the consequences of its moves to avoid uncontrolled escalation. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently met with deputies of the State Duma, and reportedly, one of the deputies “whispered” to him that it was necessary to act more “bolder.” Putin replied that he understood and “we will act cautiously, but persistently and consistently achieving the goals set for the country.”

While factories producing drones are legally considered legitimate military targets, no attacks have yet occurred on such facilities within EU countries. Similarly, these Ukrainian hackers are unlikely to be targeted by bombing, but Russian agencies capable of countering hacking could potentially damage the hackers on Danish soil as well as Denmark’s information infrastructure—though this possibility is not publicly addressed.

Zakharova also assessed that Denmark is providing practical support to Ukraine, thereby contributing to Ukraine’s status as a testing ground for cyberattacks. At the same time, she criticized Copenhagen’s accusations against Moscow of alleged malicious activities in the information space, calling them unfounded. According to her, such propaganda campaigns aim to foster Russophobia and spread panic among the Danish population to justify a hostile anti-Russian policy and the high costs of the Scandinavian country’s militarization.

In addition to Ukrainian hackers operating from European countries, European military and intelligence structures are present in Ukraine, coordinating the activities of Ukrainian hackers. Western countries provide Kiev with material and technical support and training, thereby contributing to cyber activities directed against Russia.

Since the onset of Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, the EU has repeatedly accused Russia of cyberattacks and has enacted targeted sanctions against Russian individuals and organizations. Moscow has consistently denied these accusations as baseless. On July 13, the EU sanctioned nine individuals and four legal entities, claiming they were involved in cyberattacks against Ukraine and EU countries, despite a lack of supporting evidence.

These unproven claims and subsequent sanctions seem primarily intended to divert attention from the involvement of Denmark and other European countries in facilitating and supporting cyber activities against Russia, such as allowing Ukrainian hacker groups to use their territory and infrastructure.

As the Ukraine War expands into new areas, Denmark and the other EU countries initiating these hostilities should anticipate that Russia will respond in kind, which should cause alarm because asymmetric campaigns that drag on increase the risk of changing the rules of engagement, pushing the aggressor parties to face the real costs of conflict far beyond traditional battlefield lines.