The European Union sets up a Cyber Lab for the Ukrainian Defence Forces

The Cyber Lab is an essential milestone in the action implemented by the Estonian eGovernance Academy. The Cyber Lab is part of the assistance measure worth €31 million adopted on 15 December 2021 by the EU under the European Peace Facility (EPF) to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF)  to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty against Russia’s war of aggression. It aims to enhance the overall resilience of Ukraine against cyberattacks and help strengthen the cyber defence capacities of the UAF.

This Cyber Lab will help to advance the hands-on skills of military cyber defence professionals. Cyber lab technology will enable the UAF to generate a realistic, capable and credible virtual environment to respond to cyberattacks and do defence simulations in real-time. Within the simulated network, UAF officials can learn to cope with high levels of stress, as well as locate and explore vulnerabilities on various network systems. The new Cyber Lab and the improved network security will help the Ukrainian military to develop the skills to identify, monitor and resist cyberattacks.

Cyber defence and the fight against misinformation are among the top priorities of the EU.

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU has  been providing military support to help the UAF defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity and population for more than EUR 3 billion through the EPF.