Microsoft announced Thursday the interception of Russian hacker activities linked to Moscow's military spy agency (GRU), which were aimed at hacking into unidentified Ukrainian, European Union and U.S. targets.

The cnnportugal portal says that this is a group of hackers, which they call "Strontium", with direct links to Moscow's military intelligence agency, whose activities have been monitored for six years.

Through seven separate domains, Russian hackers intended to spy on and interfere with government bodies, think tanks and media outlets in Ukraine, the EU and the United States, involved and foreign policy.

"We believe that Strontium was attempting to establish long-term access to its targets' systems, provide tactical support for physical intrusion, and remove sensitive information," the statement, quoted by the portal, reads.

According to Microsoft, this group has been monitored since 2016. Before this week, 15 similar interventions had already happened, with judicial authorization, "to seize control of more than 100 domains controlled by Strontium."

Microsoft believes that the Strontium attacks represent a small fraction of all activity in Ukraine.

"Prior to the Russian invasion, our teams began working around the clock to help organizations in Ukraine, including government agencies, defend against an onslaught of cyberwarfare that has intensified since the invasion began and has continued relentlessly." it reads.