meeting with one of these volunteer “cyber soldiers” who are waging war against Russia

Emmanuel Macron receives party leaders on Thursday March 7 to talk about Ukraine and return to his comments on the possibility of sending troops there. A hypothesis put forward on the grounds that nothing should be excluded. On the front, Ukraine is going through an extremely difficult period, but remains very active in another form of warfare: electronic warfare. Or how to hack Russian sites to undermine Moscow’s war economy.

These “cyber soldiers” are supported by volunteers from around the world. Olivier does not need to be in Ukraine to wage his own war. “From a hotel, from home… Wherever there is wifi.” Even from his couch in Belgium, Olivier can paralyze sites of Russian companies, financial services, or even ministerial sites. “There is still an ethic, he specifies. We don’t touch hospitals. Facilities that would allow civilian planes to fly, neither. I care about it.”

Around 400 million euros in damage

Nearly 6,000 volunteers have joined the Ukrainian electronic army. There are now around twenty French speakers united in the unit formed by Olivier: “It’s, I would say, 50% of my life, at least. If my skills could be put to better use, it wouldn’t be any worse. I have no particular pride”he slips.

These cybersecurity specialists are attached to the Ukrainian digital ministry, which sends them the missions to carry out. The target: the Russian economy. “In one year, there was $400 million in damage: that’s still less ammunition for Russia, less soldiers we pay for. That has an impact.” These volunteers also do a lot of work to counter Kremlin propaganda on social networks. A war in which Moscow has taken a big lead.