Russia’s cyber offensive against Ukraine has been limited so far. Experts are divided on why

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN

US officials warned that a wave of debilitating cyberattacks could accompany Russia’s war on Ukraine. So far they haven’t materialized, and US and Ukrainian officials are contemplating why as they prepare for the next phase of the war.

There have been several hacks of Ukrainian organizations, but no reports yet of the sort of high-impact cyberattacks on transportation or electric infrastructure that some feared.

The possible explanations for this, analysts say, range from disorganization in Russian military planning to hardened Ukrainian defenses, to the fact that bombs and bullets take precedence over hacking in wartime.

The reason Russia has so far not flexed in cyberspace during the war may be unattainable — or require being inside the minds of Russian spy chiefs. But how US, European and Ukrainian officials perceive the situation shapes how they allocate resources to defend Ukrainian computer networks as the war continues.