Ukraine cyber-operators are being deployed on the front lines of the war, duelling close-up with their Russian counterparts in a new kind of high-tech battle.

"They were trying to deprive Ukrainians of access to truthful information," Yurii Shchyhol, head of the state service that protects communications, explains, standing in front of the tower where black scars from the missile strike are still evident.

"The fact that Ukraine managed to withstand this war is the achievement of both our specialists who built the system and thanks to the help from our partners," says Mr Shchyhol.

In a cramped Kyiv office, young volunteers explain how they built a system called Griselda that scrapes data from social media and other sources to provide up-to-date situational intelligence.

The cyber-onslaught remains relentless, explains Victor Zhora, who oversees the country's cyber-defence, as he gives a tour of Ukraine's incident response facility which runs 24/7.

"I always say that Ukraine has debunked the myth about mighty Russian hackers," he says, comparing the struggle to two closely matched fighters who know each other well, slugging it out in a ring.

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