Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister for Digital Transformation of Ukraine, one of Zelensky’s deputies, in an interview with Repubblica tells of the other ongoing war. The computer one. It is he who on Twitter asked Big Tech to leave Russia. The minister has sent emails and letters with the same appeal to thousands of other companies. “I personally signed 4 thousand,” he says.
In many cases, Fedorov has achieved its purpose: Apple, PayPal and Netflix are among the companies that have suspended sales and services to Russian citizens. But there is still work to be done: “We expect Cloudflare, Amazon, Microsoft and Sap to do more,” he explains.
Cyber warfare «is one more tool for our army. A cyber front, ”he says. “Modern warfare requires modern solutions. That of the past involves clumsy tanks and outrageous propaganda. The new military strategy includes digital solutions. Our dialogue with Big Tech was already underway. Last September, with President Zelensky, we met the CEOs of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Meta. After the invasion I thought of contacting them to impose sanctions on Russia ».
But of his work “Twitter is just the tip of the iceberg,” he continues. “We hold meetings, we talk to companies about Zoom, we write official requests to associations and government agencies. Now the world is divided into black and white. If you choose to collaborate with Russia, you choose the dark side and support the blood, the death of children and the destruction caused by missiles ».
Hackers are also fighting for Kiev. 300,000 volunteers responded to his appeal. “Ukraine is a land of technological talent,” explains the minister. “It would be a crime not to use them. Russia has been continuously attacking our government websites since 2014. In the past we have never responded, we have only defended ourselves. But starting from February 24 we are attacking too. And without hiding anything: our goals are on the IT Army chat on Telegram. Ukraine’s IT Army conducts cyber attacks on commercial companies such as Gazprom and Lukoil, banks such as Sberbank and Vtb, and government sites such as the Russian Civil Service Portal, the Kremlin and the Russian Parliament. I can tell you this: the Russians fully “enjoy” the efforts of our hackers. We are quite efficient ».
Fedorov asked Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, to suspend access to the App Store in Russia and wrote on Twitter: «They are killing our children. Let’s kill their accesses ».
“We will do everything possible, and even the impossible, to stop this unjust and bloody war,” he says. “We want to use technology to do good things, not to kill children and civilians. We create peaceful ways to reach every Russian, so that he understands that war is senseless. This strategy can work better than bullets ».
Elon Musk responded to one of his appeals. “He has made a huge contribution to this war” with the satellite broadband connection, he says. “We are grateful to him for that. The Starlink satellites are already working. Mostly they are used to support critical infrastructure and the military. “
Currently, however, Russia is destroying the Ukrainian network. “The connection is problematic, especially where military operations are more active. Our infrastructure specialists are heroes: they carry out repairs under enemy fire. And they die while doing their job. We know that it happened ».
And then he launches an appeal to Italy: «Italians are welcome in our IT army. Italian companies, on the other hand, can become digital residents of Diia City, one of the most favorable projects in the world for IT and the creative industries, and can support sanctions against Russia without hesitation “. And he concludes with a resolution for the future of Ukraine after the war: «We want to become the largest IT hub in Europe. I’m pretty sure it will happen. ‘
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