Estonia fends off major cyber attack following Soviet-era monuments ousting

Estonia, a country in northeastern Europe, successfully withstood and survived "the most extensive cyber attacks since 2007" soon after it removed Soviet monuments from a region dominated by ethnic Russians.

Per reports, the attack was conspired by the Russian hacker group Killnet. The cyber criminal group allegedly blocked access to over 200 state and private Estonian institutions. The attack is said to have occurred after a Soviet Tu-34 tank was moved from a public display in Narva to a museum on Tuesday.

However, clearing the air, an Estonian government official on Thursday affirmed the impact of the attack went “largely unnoticed”.

"Yesterday, Estonia was subject to the most extensive cyber attacks it has faced since 2007", tweeted Luukas Ilves, undersecretary for digital transformation at Estonia's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

"With some brief and minor exceptions, websites remained fully available throughout the day. The attack has gone largely unnoticed in Estonia," he added.

The Estonian government has ordered that all public Soviet memorials be removed swiftly from Narva, which is largely Russian-speaking, in response to rising tensions in the town and Russian attempts to divide Estonians.

The Killnet group had previously targeted Lithuania in June to protest Vilnius' decision to cease some goods from transiting to Kaliningrad under EU sanctions.