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US President Donald Trump with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in 2019. The attacks coincided with an impeachment inquiry into whether Trump abused his office by pushing Ukraine to investigate Burisma and Hunter Biden.Credit:AP

The operation's launch coincided with a congressional impeachment inquiry into Trump and whether he abused his office by seeking to press Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky into announcing a probe of Burisma and Hunter Biden - an action that conceivably would aid Trump's reelection bid.

The GRU was active in the 2016 presidential campaign,hacking the servers of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman and releasing their emails that summer and autumn. The disclosures disrupted the Democratic convention and undermined Clinton's campaign in the critical final weeks,and the US intelligence community concluded that with such actions Moscow aimed to help Trump and hurt Clinton.

Trump has publicly downplayed the intelligence agencies'conclusions and has suggested that it was Ukraine,not Russia,that interfered in the 2016 election. He and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani have promoted an unfounded theory that Joe Biden,while US vice president,tried to quash a corruption investigation of Burisma to protect his son. Hunter Biden no longer is on Burisma's board.

The GRU succeeded in breaching the servers of Burisma Holdings and several subsidiaries and partners,said Oren Falkowitz,Area 1 Security CEO.

"The timing of the GRU's campaign in relation to the 2020 US elections raises the specter that this is an early warning of what we have anticipated since the successful cyberattacks undertaken during the 2016 US elections,"Falkowitz said.

It was not known what material the GRU gained access to,and if any of it will be released.

The GRU also targeted a media organisation founded by Zelensky,the firm said.

Phishing is the most common technique used by hackers to gain access to victims'systems. Hackers send emails impersonating employees or people trusted by the targets,who are then tricked into clicking on links that contain malware or lead to malware-laced sites,enabling the hackers to obtain the victim's email credentials.

The GRU campaign"demonstrates that there are a lot of targets that can be attacked by those who would interfere in our elections,"said Laura Rosenberger,director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy,which tracks Russian disinformation efforts."We should expect to see more of these reports."

Moscow's efforts are aimed at undermining our elections,Rosenberger said."The goal is to undermine our institutions,"she said.

The Washington Post