The United States and Britain have sent teams of experts to Ukraine who are experts in combating cyber attacks, The New York Times reported.

"The United States and Great Britain have secretly sent cyber warfare experts to Ukraine in the hope of better preparing it for the confrontation," the publication wrote.

It is noted that the implementation of threats "will not be an invasion with 175,000 troops, which Russia gathers at the border, but cyber attacks that disable power grids, the banking system and other critical components of the Ukrainian economy and government.

The publication quotes Sen. Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who said, "I don't think there is the slightest doubt that if there is an invasion or other type of invasion of Ukraine, it will start with cyberspace."

The article said that while the two governments have not provided details, official sources said the United States is considering a larger deployment of cyber attack forces in Ukraine, including U.S. cyber command resources. They declined to say what the groups of experts sent were. A statement from the Biden administration said only that the U.S. "has long supported Ukraine's efforts to strengthen its cyber defenses and increase its cyber resilience."

A British government spokeswoman said the assistance provided by Britain and its allies was defensive in nature.

The New York Times writes that U.S. officials say they are "on high alert" as the Christmas holiday approaches.

Nevertheless, they say that if Russia "does launch a cyber attack, either as a separate action or as a precursor to a physical attack, it will likely occur after Orthodox Christmas, in the end of the first week of January, according to intelligence sources.