Nova Poshta says 'minor temporary difficulties'; Obozrevatel says Ukrainians cannot send or receive parcels
Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest parcel carrier, said on 1 October that its systems were under a DDoS attack. Four of five Ukrainian outlets repeated the company's word, 'minor'. One headline called it a 'large-scale failure'. No report names who carried out the attack, and none says how many customers were affected.
What we hold. Five Ukrainian reports, all filed within about an hour on 1 October. Every one rests on the company's own statement on social media. None quotes anyone outside Nova Poshta.
Where they split. The company's phrase was незначні тимчасові складнощі, meaning 'minor temporary difficulties'. Four outlets carry it. Obozrevatel's headline says the opposite.
| Outlet | How it describes the effect |
|---|---|
| Obozrevatel | 'large-scale failure'; Ukrainians 'cannot send or receive parcels' |
| Espreso TV | 'minor' difficulties, then says plainly that customers had interruptions sending and receiving |
| Censor.NET | 'minor' difficulties; its headline says services run 'with interruptions' |
| Suspilne | 'minor' difficulties; the company says it is 'successfully countering' the attack |
| Ekonomichna Pravda | 'minor' difficulties, printed without saying who said so |
The wider week. Only Espreso TV puts the attack beside the Russian strikes on Kyiv's Parkovyi data centre. It says the data centre stopped working on 1 October. It does not link the two events.
What is not settled. - Who ran the attack. 0 of 5 reports name anyone. - How many parcels or customers were affected. 0 of 5 give a number. - When services fully returned. All we hold of Obozrevatel's report is its headline and one subheading, and that subheading asks this question. - Whether anyone has confirmed any of this independently. Every account comes from the company.
This story is about a cyberattack on Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest parcel carrier, and how differently Ukrainian outlets described the damage.
How it got here. Russia's war on Ukraine began in 2014, when Russia seized Crimea and fighting broke out in the east. In February 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion. Since then the war has been fought against the systems Ukrainians live by as well as on the front line: power stations, water, telecoms and data. Cyberattacks on Ukrainian companies and state bodies have run alongside the missile and drone strikes. In December 2023 an attack knocked out Kyivstar, the largest mobile operator. Ukraine's security service said Russian military intelligence was behind it.
In a DDoS attack (distributed denial of service), attackers flood a company's servers with junk traffic until real customers cannot get through. It does not usually steal data. It is cheap, common and hard to trace quickly.
The actors. Nova Poshta is a private Ukrainian company that delivers parcels and documents across the country. For many people and small businesses it is how goods get from one town to another. The only source we hold is Ukraine's press. We hold no statement from Ukraine's government and no claim of responsibility from any group.
What is at stake. If a DDoS attack can stop Ukraine's main delivery network, its computer systems are worth attacking. If the company dealt with it in hours, as it says, its systems are holding up.
Where it stands. Espreso TV reports that Kyiv's Parkovyi data centre was hit by a Russian drone on 23 September and attacked again on the night of 29 September. It announced a full shutdown on 1 October, the day of the attack on Nova Poshta. Nova Poshta says its IT staff have switched to backup systems and the situation is under control. No report we hold says who attacked or when service fully returned.
What is being argued about
- Was the disruption 'minor', as the company says, or a 'large-scale failure'?
- Who carried out the DDoS attack: no report says
- How many customers could not send or receive parcels: no report gives a number
- Whether the attack has anything to do with the same week's strikes on a Kyiv data centre
Claims and verdicts
"Нова пошта" повідомила про DDoS-атаку на свої системи: можливі збої в роботі
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What we have measured
Actor named Russia is named as the actor in the shift to combat use. ×1Actor named Russia is named as the actor in the data-centre strike. Nobody is named behind the DDoS attack. ×1Actor named for the decision Names the EU Council as the body that acted and gives the date and the new expiry date. ×1Adopted wording The company's own word 'minor' sits next to the report's flat statement that customers could not send or receive parcels. ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
S
Suspilne
У «Новій пошті» заявили про DDoS-атаку
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Read it at Suspilne →
What we have measured
Actor label Names the attacker as 'the Russian army' and gives the date ×1Actor label The Russian side is called 'occupiers' in the headline. ×1Actor named The sentence is given by 'occupiers', so the actor is named and labelled. ×1Actor named hurt aged On the other side of the Dnipro, the Russian drone is named as the actor and the wounded man is given an age, not a name. The vote is called 'pseudo-elections' in the report's own voice. ×1
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C
Censor.NET
"Нова пошта" заявила про DDoS-атаку: сервіси працюють з перебоями
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What we have measured
Actor label Names the attacker as 'Russian occupation forces' ×1Actor label 'Occupiers' in the headline; 'Russian troops' in the body ×1Actor label The attacker is called 'the enemy', not named. ×1Actor label Calls the Russian president a dictator in the report's own voice. ×1
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E
Ekonomichna Pravda
Хакери атакували системи "Нової пошти"
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What we have measured
Actor unnamed hackers are named as acting, but not who they are ×1Assertion vs attribution The Vodafone data-centre strike appears only as the Russian defence ministry's claim, attributed in the sentence ×1Assertion vs attribution Russia's claim of a Vodafone data-centre strike is carried only as a Russian defence ministry statement, with nothing from the company and no confirmation ×1Attacker stated flat 'the Russians' named as acting, with no source given ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
У «Новій пошті» заявили про DDoS-атаку
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Suspilne →
What we have measured
Actor label Names the attacker as 'the Russian army' and gives the date ×1Actor label The Russian side is called 'occupiers' in the headline. ×1Actor named The sentence is given by 'occupiers', so the actor is named and labelled. ×1Actor named hurt aged On the other side of the Dnipro, the Russian drone is named as the actor and the wounded man is given an age, not a name. The vote is called 'pseudo-elections' in the report's own voice. ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
C
Censor.NET
"Нова пошта" заявила про DDoS-атаку: сервіси працюють з перебоями
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Censor.NET →
What we have measured
Actor label Names the attacker as 'Russian occupation forces' ×1Actor label 'Occupiers' in the headline; 'Russian troops' in the body ×1Actor label The attacker is called 'the enemy', not named. ×1Actor label Calls the Russian president a dictator in the report's own voice. ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
E
Ekonomichna Pravda
Хакери атакували системи "Нової пошти"
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Ekonomichna Pravda →
What we have measured
Actor unnamed hackers are named as acting, but not who they are ×1Assertion vs attribution The Vodafone data-centre strike appears only as the Russian defence ministry's claim, attributed in the sentence ×1Assertion vs attribution Russia's claim of a Vodafone data-centre strike is carried only as a Russian defence ministry statement, with nothing from the company and no confirmation ×1Attacker stated flat 'the Russians' named as acting, with no source given ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
O
Obozrevatel
Украинцы не могут отправить или получить посылки: в "Новой почте" произошел масштабный сбой
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Read it at Obozrevatel →
What we have measured
Actor label Names the attacker as 'occupiers' and gives 12 hurt, with no one cited as counting ×1Actor named no attacker named; the drone 'hit near' the building ×1Actor named No actor is named, and the headline puts the hit near the building rather than on it. ×1Actors left vague the neighbouring countries are not named ×1
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E
Espreso TV
"Нова пошта" повідомила про DDoS-атаку на свої системи: можливі збої в роботі
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Read it at Espreso TV →
What we have measured
Actor named Russia is named as the actor in the shift to combat use. ×1Actor named Russia is named as the actor in the data-centre strike. Nobody is named behind the DDoS attack. ×1Actor named for the decision Names the EU Council as the body that acted and gives the date and the new expiry date. ×1Adopted wording The company's own word 'minor' sits next to the report's flat statement that customers could not send or receive parcels. ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
Who wrote it
Coverage, outlet by outlet
"Нова пошта" повідомила про DDoS-атаку на свої системи: можливі збої в роботі
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Espreso TV →
What we have measured
Actor named Russia is named as the actor in the shift to combat use. ×1Actor named Russia is named as the actor in the data-centre strike. Nobody is named behind the DDoS attack. ×1Actor named for the decision Names the EU Council as the body that acted and gives the date and the new expiry date. ×1Adopted wording The company's own word 'minor' sits next to the report's flat statement that customers could not send or receive parcels. ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
—
Хакери атакували системи "Нової пошти"
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Read it at Ekonomichna Pravda →
What we have measured
Actor unnamed hackers are named as acting, but not who they are ×1Assertion vs attribution The Vodafone data-centre strike appears only as the Russian defence ministry's claim, attributed in the sentence ×1Assertion vs attribution Russia's claim of a Vodafone data-centre strike is carried only as a Russian defence ministry statement, with nothing from the company and no confirmation ×1Attacker stated flat 'the Russians' named as acting, with no source given ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
—
"Нова пошта" заявила про DDoS-атаку: сервіси працюють з перебоями
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Censor.NET →
What we have measured
Actor label Names the attacker as 'Russian occupation forces' ×1Actor label 'Occupiers' in the headline; 'Russian troops' in the body ×1Actor label The attacker is called 'the enemy', not named. ×1Actor label Calls the Russian president a dictator in the report's own voice. ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
—
У «Новій пошті» заявили про DDoS-атаку
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Suspilne →
What we have measured
Actor label Names the attacker as 'the Russian army' and gives the date ×1Actor label The Russian side is called 'occupiers' in the headline. ×1Actor named The sentence is given by 'occupiers', so the actor is named and labelled. ×1Actor named hurt aged On the other side of the Dnipro, the Russian drone is named as the actor and the wounded man is given an age, not a name. The vote is called 'pseudo-elections' in the report's own voice. ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
— public-service
Украинцы не могут отправить или получить посылки: в "Новой почте" произошел масштабный сбой
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Obozrevatel →
What we have measured
Actor label Names the attacker as 'occupiers' and gives 12 hurt, with no one cited as counting ×1Actor named no attacker named; the drone 'hit near' the building ×1Actor named No actor is named, and the headline puts the hit near the building rather than on it. ×1Actors left vague the neighbouring countries are not named ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
—