The Putin Files

Putin Tests the Waters in Estonia and Georgia

As Putin grew more determined to confront the West, Russian hackers launched a major cyberattack against Estonia in retaliation for a decision to move the statue of a World War II Russian soldier. The attack froze the operations of banks, media and the government. The following year, Russia invaded neighboring Georgia, a former Soviet Republic, in support of pro-Russian separatists.
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“Everything the Russians do, at least in the cyber realm and in other realms connected to defense and military operations over the past 20 or so years, have essentially been lifted from the American playbook.”

Joshua Yaffa

The New Yorker

“It’s a wakeup call about the vulnerability of all of our societies as we become increasingly dependent on cyber-vulnerable electronics and other information devices.”

Stephen Hadley

National Security Adviser, 2005-09

“I called up, and they said: “Yes, we’re under attack. All the banks and the newspapers and the government sites are being overloaded.”...”

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

President of Estonia, 2006-16

“They can engage in war along a continuum. It’s not as we view it in the West, [that] either we are at peace or we are at war, but that society is in a constant state of information conflict.”

Massimo Calabresi

Time

“Here was one area where they could punch above their weight and take advantage of the human capital in Russia.”

William Burns

U.S. ambassador to Russia, 2005-08

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