Department for Combating Cyber Crime Created Within Russia's Interior Ministry

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A new department for combating cyber crime has been established within the Russian Interior Ministry, according to a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

The official name of the new body created within the ministry is the department for organization of combating the illegal use of information and communication technologies, the document said.

"A decree was signed due to a large number of cyber attacks, remote money theft and the active development of the illegal digital sphere," the ministry's spokeswoman Irina Volk told journalists.

The new department will be tasked with the investigation of cyber crimes and the analysis of Internet data for illegal content, according to Volk.

The number of cyber attacks and data leaks in Russia has been increasing since February following Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, with web resources of Russia's state organizations and media especially hit. Most of the attacks have been organized from Ukraine, Germany and the US, according to the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media.