SBU representatives conducted a search and seized the servers of NIC.UA, a major domain registrar. The company announced this on Twitter: "Government agencies are currently seizing our hosting servers from the data center, which has caused hosting issues for many. We'll keep you updated." The company later promised that there would be no problems with its clients' websites: "Domains are working and will continue to work properly." The websites that used the hosting are no longer accessible.
AIN.UA has learned that law enforcement has not yet offered any explanation for these actions. Law enforcement officers searched for the company's servers at the Kyiv data centers of Datagroup, Mirohost, and NetAssist. However, they were unable to locate NIC.UA's servers at Mirohost. "An investigator came to us this morning with a court order. But we don't have NIC.UA equipment, so they found nothing and left," said Alexander Olshansky, president of Internet Invest.
According to company director Andrey Khvetkevich, the main equipment was housed in a Datagroup data center. The seizure is being carried out by court order, but neither the data center's management nor company representatives have seen it. "We're trying to figure out what's going on. Unofficially, I've heard that it's because we registered domains for some separatist websites. We're legally obligated to block such resources—for example, we recently blocked Gubarev.info," Khvetkevich noted. More information, he said, will be available once Datagroup provides the equipment seizure report.
Update: "In short, the equipment was seized for a reason. These sites have been discussed in industry newsletters since the summer," noted Maxim Tulyev, head of NetAssist, which was also responsible for the company's equipment seizure.
Update 2: According to the Pechersk Court's ruling (available to the editors), the search and seizure are being conducted as part of a criminal investigation under Part 1 of Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code. The Security Service of Ukraine's IT Counterintelligence Department received a letter regarding online resources that contain calls for violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order of Ukraine.
The search warrant identifies the websites slv.org.ua, nahnews.com.ua, slavgromada.wordpress.com, and others (currently unavailable). During the investigation, investigators determined that these domains were registered by NIC.UA. The search was conducted "with the aim of identifying and recording information about the circumstances of the criminal offense."
The judge ruled that the premises may contain server equipment and other technology containing information that could be used as evidence in the case. Judging by the text of the document, part of the investigator's motion concerned the "seizure of criminally obtained funds," but the court denied this request, granting permission only to seize equipment, documentation, and other items.
The material is being supplemented.
As a reminder, the president recently signed a law that says the police will no longer be able to seize servers without a court order.
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