CLEARWATER, Fla. — As Ukrainian cities come under attack, the country has also suffered the latest blows in an ongoing campaign of cyberattacks.

Several of Ukraine’s bank and government department websites crashed, leading to fears of cyberattacks elsewhere.

Stu Sjouwerman, a cyber security expert in Clearwater, said the cyberattacks in the past few days in Ukraine have escalated.

Sjouwerman said Russia has been beefing up its cyber capabilities for a decade and had already launched some test attacks in Ukraine in the past five years, so none of the attacks in the past 12 hours are a big surprise.

"They are trying to stop communications to a large degree to deteriorate any kind of defense that Ukraine might be able to put up," said Sjouwerman, who works with KnowBe4, a cyber security company.

The websites of the Ukranian cabinet of ministers, ministry of foreign affairs, infrastructure, education and others have all been experiencing disruptions.

Some Ukranians say they are having problems getting money out of banks, too.

U.S. intelligence says it is unknown who is responsible for the attacks,​ but given recent troop movements and the cyberattacks that began Feb. 15, Russia is clearly in the bullseye of blame.

Security experts are especially concerned with what is called wiper malware, which was used in the past couple of days in Ukraine. It doesn't just cause short-term internet and computer issues, but it can completely destroy IT systems.

"A wiper attack essentially makes the hard disk in a computer useless,” Sjouwerman said. ”Essentially, you make a brick out of that computer. You completely have to replace it. Those wiper attacks are super-damaging, and they cause downtime for weeks, if not months."

It is unclear if the U.S. will get involved in the cyberattacks happening in Ukraine. Security experts say the U.S. and its allies can defend against these attacks and are doing so.