Microsoft Extends Free Tech Support For Ukraine

Microsoft has so far spent more than $400 million helping defend Ukraine, as it battles against Russia’s illegal invasion of its homeland.

And now Microsoft on Thursday has pledged to extend its technology support for Ukraine free of charge through 2023.

Microsoft and other commercial partners and governments have been providing a great deal of cyber assistance to Ukraine, including helping Ukraine defend itself from Russian cyberattacks.

Microsoft support

In April Microsoft’s noted that Russia’s cyberattacks against Ukraine were much greater than first thought, and were linked with its military operations.

Ukraine suffered a number of well documented cyberattacks in the weeks leading up to Russia’s illegal invasion on 24 February, but the Microsoft data suggests that the sheer number of cyberattacks against the sovereign nation has been much greater than previously disclosed.

With the war dragging on, Microsoft said it would provide additional technology aid of nearly $100 million, bringing its total support for Ukraine to more than $400 million since the crisis started in February.

This was confirmed by Microsoft President Brad Smith in a blog post.

“Today, we are announcing that Microsoft will extend technology support free of charge for Ukraine throughout calendar year 2023,” wrote Smith.

“This commits our company to providing additional technology aid valued at roughly $100 million, which will ensure that government agencies, critical infrastructure and other sectors in Ukraine can continue to run their digital infrastructure and serve citizens through the Microsoft Cloud.”

Digital alliance

“The continued defence of Ukraine depends in part on a critical digital alliance of countries, companies and non-profits,” said Smith. “Since the war began in February, Microsoft and other tech companies have provided unprecedented technology assistance to the government and people of Ukraine.”

“By disbursing digital infrastructure into the public cloud, Microsoft and others have supported critical Ukrainian services through data centres across Europe,” Smith wrote.

“As underscored in Microsoft’s report in June, this has played a critical role in protecting the resilience and security of Ukraine’s data and digital services even in the face of Russian cruise missile and other kinetic attacks on Ukraine’s government data centre and other physical assets.”

Smith noted that the digital alliance supporting Ukraine must continue to stand strong.

Smith said Microsoft would:

• Support the country with critical cybersecurity protection;
• Support non-profits and humanitarian organisations operating in Ukraine, Poland and elsewhere in the European Union;
• Provide data and support to international organisations aiding Ukraine and addressing war crimes against civilians;
• Support and assist employees who are contributing to non-profits engaged in humanitarian relief efforts

“We recognise that many people, particularly across Europe, will make sacrifices this winter to support the defence of Ukraine,” Smith concluded.

“The war has upended energy markets and disrupted access to food,” he wrote. “We’re confident that other tech companies will similarly step forward to sustain support that is vital not only for Ukraine, but for international stability and the protection of fundamental rights across Europe and around the world.”