Pro-Ukrainian hackers have claimed responsibility for attacking Russian state media on the occasion of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 72nd birthday on Monday.
According to Reuters and other sources, the website of Russia’s state-owned VGTRK (All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company), which operates the news channel Rossiya 24, was taken offline that morning. In a statement issued early that day, VGTRK confirmed that a cyberattack had targeted its online services overnight. VGTRK is one of Russia’s largest state media companies, owning major national and regional TV channels and radio stations. Sputnik News reported that some broadcasts were briefly interrupted, though no significant damage was reported.
A Ukrainian government source told Reuters that Ukrainian hackers had launched a large-scale attack on VGTRK to celebrate Putin’s birthday. The Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reported that the pro-Ukrainian hacker group Sudo rm-RF, which has repeatedly targeted Russia, claimed responsibility for the attack.
During a briefing, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, stated that VGTRK’s digital infrastructure, one of Russia’s largest media companies, had suffered an unprecedented hacker attack. He added that experts were working to trace the details and identify the perpetrators behind the attack.
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