Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a power plant in the Kaliningrad region of Russia on March 2, 2018. File Photo by Alexei Druzhinin/EPA-EFE

June 17 (UPI) -- The Russian government said Monday its electrical grid is safe but constantly under attack from enemies abroad -- including, Kremlin officials say, the United States.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, in response to a recent report, that cyber warfare between Russia and the United States is a "hypothetical possibility." His remarks came in response to a New York Times report over the weekend that cited U.S. attempts in the past year to target Russian infrastructure with malware.


"If one assumes that some government agencies do this without informing the head of state, then of course this may indicate that cyberwar against Russia might be a hypothetical possibility," he said.

"The vital areas of our economy are under continuous attacks from abroad. We regret to say that," Peskov added, saying the Russian government is constantly countering attacks to prevent damage to the economy.

The Times report detailed efforts to plant computer codes inside Russia's power grid and other entities targeting Russian disinformation and hacking efforts.

Yevgeny Lifshitz, a member of Russia's State Duma Committee on Information Policy, told state-run RIA Novosti Russia's grid is safe from cyberattacks.

"There are no serious concerns," he said. "The country's power grid has the necessary security systems so that even the most unfavorable scenario would lead to only short-term interruptions."