The Vatican - (AFP) - The Vatican's website could not be accessed Wednesday night due to "extraordinary attempts to access it", the Holy See's media office said, in a cyberattack likely attributed to Ukraine's ambassador to Russia.

"Technical investigations are underway (at the end of the day) due to unusual attempts to access the site," Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican's information department, told AFP.

A large number of Vatican websites were down Wednesday evening, as well as the main official website, Vatican.va.

The likely attack followed a sharp reaction from Russia, which expressed "indignation" after remarks by Pope Francis about the supposed role of Russian ethnic minorities in the conflict in Ukraine.

In an interview published by the American Jesuit magazine "America" on Monday, the Pope spoke of the "brutality" that Ukraine faces in the Russian attack, referring in particular to the Chechens and Buryats.

"Today Russian terrorists are attacking the websites of the Vatican State: access to many Internet pages of various structures of the Roman Church has become inaccessible!"

He added, "Russian hackers show once again the true face of Russian politics," considering that it was "a response to the recent statements" of Pope Francis.