(Reuters) - Russia has carried out a mass cyber attack on Ukraine's state registries, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said late on Thursday.

"Today the largest external cyber attack in recent times occurred with Ukraine's state registries," Stefanishyna wrote on Facebook. "As a result of this targeted attack, the work of the unified and state registries, which are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, was temporarily suspended."

Stefanishyna said it was clear the attack was "carried out by the Russians to disrupt the work of the country's critically important infrastructure" and work was proceeding to restore the systems.