Ukraine government websites hit by cyber attack as tensions with Russia remain high

The Ukrainian government has been hit by a cyber attack which has taken several of its websites offline.

Ukraine's defence ministry confirmed the attack, saying it was "probably" hit by a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack.

Several of the country's banks had also been hit, including Privatbank and Oshadbank, though the country's Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security has said these sites are back to normal.

A DDOS attack is a low-level cyber attack which takes websites offline by overloading them with more access requests than they can handle.

The attackers' attempt to gain access to a website from several sources, making it difficult for cyber security firms to stop the attack.

It comes with Ukraine also under threat of a Russian invasion, with more than 130,000 Russian troops stationed on the border between the two countries.

There were signs of tensions easing earlier when President Vladimir Putin announced some soldiers would be withdrawn from the border but suggestions that meant tensions would deescalate were met with scepticism.

The prime minister acknowledged "signs of a diplomatic opening" after Western nations agreed to threaten Russia with a package of sanctions designed to target Russian money.

President Putin, in a press conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he "of course" does not want war in Europe as his German counterpart said it "should be possible to find a solution" to the Ukraine crisis.

Mr Johnson, despite claims of a minor Russian withdrawal, said the "intelligence that we are seeing today is still not encouraging".

He said field hospitals being built close to the Belarus border with Ukraine can only be "construed as preparation for an invasion".

The PM added: "You have got more battalion tactical groups being brought closer to the border."

"So, mixed signals, I think, at the moment," he said.