According to a statement made by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchinov, Ukraine will organize a number of joint exercises in the near future with the European Union (EU) designed to develop appropriate response models to Russian cyber threats.

Turchinov said that having a set of responses ready for various cyber attacks scenarios would allow the country to better counteract cyberspace aggression and avoid Russian interference during future presidential elections in Ukraine.

Preparing for the March 31 presidential elections

According to Ukraine's constitution, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) is the coordinating body for national security and defense, commanded by the President of Ukraine. The NSDC is also responsible for coordinating and controlling the activities of executive power bodies within the field of national security and defense.

"The available information indicates that Russia intends to use the entire existing arsenal, including cybernetic means, to influence the democratic will of the Ukrainian people," stated NSDC Secretary Turchinov in a press release on the official NSDC website.

In addition, a number of cyber attack scenarios will be simulated during the joint exercises with the EU several to develop response models specifically tailored as efficient countermeasures in the face of various cyber threats.

The joint exercises should make it possible for the Ukrainian state defense sector to ensure the security of the presidential elections which are scheduled for March 31, also said Turchinov.

Oleksandr @Turchynov at the meeting of the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity: Russia is going to use the entire arsenal, including cybernetic means, to influence the democratic will of the Ukrainian people - https://t.co/3YrJ8shxvT — NSDC of Ukraine (@NSDC_ua) February 19, 2019

Russia accused of interfering in other countries' elections before

Russia has previously rejected accusations of election interference in other countries, the most famous case being the involvement in the 2016 US Presidential Elections.

Two years later, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted 12 Russian intelligence agents part of Unit 26165 and Unit 74455 of the Russian government's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), the country's military intelligence service, on hacking charges related to that event.

As detailed by RBC, President Petro Poroshenko stated in September 2018 that Kiev’s military intelligence was already opposing Russian attempts to intervene in Ukraine's electoral process, one month later also declaring that Russian election interference would be done "through disinformation systems, through electoral fraud systems, and through hacker cyber attacks."

Poroshenko also said that the country will turn to international partners to protect itself from this type of threats, the joint exercises with the EU possibly being the exact type of help Ukraine needs for that to happen.

In December 2018, following Poroshenko's statements, the Security Service of Ukraine accused the Russian special services of attempting to meddle with the country's upcoming elections by influencing public opinion with the help of Facebook and Twitter social networks.