MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. Russian embassies have been subject to network attacks and have been operating literally in blockade in recent months, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

"In recent months, our embassies have been living practtically in blockade. The matter is that this blockade is not conditional, it is not virtual, but a real. I would repeat it once again, it did not start a couple of days ago, it did not start a week ago, it has been whipping up for years," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel.

According to the spokeswoman, Russian embassies have been subject to hacker attacks quite regularly. "They are not mere cyber fraudsters or cyber criminals. They are real cyber terrorists. Threats to the lives and the use of violence against [diplomats’] families have become a reality for our diplomatic missions and our diplomats both in Ukraine and in other countries, which have such pro-Kiev activists. It has been a real nightmare for several years," she said.

In her words, embassy employees and their family members, compatriots and activists receive "envelopes with unknown substances and threats." "They have been intimidated by extremists, beaten over," she noted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

When clarifying the unfolding developments, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.

Following this step, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and several other countries announced sanctions against Russia individuals and legal entities.

Zakharova said earlier that the Russian foreign ministry and Russian embassies have been subject to unprecedented cyberattacks in recent time.