On 22 December 2024, news website Cheline, which is based in the northern city of Chernihiv, reported that it had been targeted in a cyber attack, for which editor Pavlo Solodovnyk blamed Russian hackers. Cheline reported the attack to the local representative in Chernihiv of the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), a Ukrainian press freedom and monitoring group.
According to Cheline’s technical team, the outlet’s website went offline and the editorial team was not able to access its backend in order to add, modify or delete content. Specialists initially attempted to restart the website’s server, and when this gave no results, it became clear to them that the website had been targeted in a cyber attack, IMI reported. The website’s “under attack” mode was then activated, thanks to which bots on the site were removed and the website came back online.
Solodovnyk told IMI that he believed the Russian Federation was behind the attack, without however providing explanations other than the fact that Cheline is, in his words, a “patriotic” outlet which “works for Ukraine’s victory”. Cheline’s editor added that the outlet had earlier already been subjected to cyber attacks, in the course of which hackers displayed a Russian flag on the website.
Solodovnyk did not indicate whether he had filed a complaint on the most recent cyber attack with police.