Anonymous claims responsibility for Russian government website outages

On Saturday morning, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its third day, some of the country’s official government websites went down following a series of alleged cyberattacks. Among the sites that aren’t accessible as of the writing of this article include that of the Kremlin and the country’s Ministry of Defence. Several Twitter accounts claiming affiliation with Anonymous say the international hacking collective is behind the attacks.

© Sputnik Photo Agency / reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with representatives of the business community at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia February 24, 2022. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

“Faced with this series of attacks that Ukraine has been suffering from the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, we could not help but support the Ukrainian people,” said one account. At the start of the conflict, the group said it would launch a “cyber war against the Russian government.” However, the Kremlin has denied Anonymous is behind the attacks, according to CNN.

Video: Russia finds Meta guilty of 'extremist activity', says WhatsApp can stay (Reuters)

Russia finds Meta guilty of 'extremist activity', says WhatsApp can stay

Reuters See more videos

SHARE

SHARE

TWEET

SHARE

EMAIL

What to watch next

• 

  Do spam bots really comprise under 5% of Twitter users? Elon Musk wants to know

  
  Reuters
• 

  Do spam bots really comprise under 5% of Twitter users? Elon Musk wants to know

  
  Reuters
• 

  Musk told banks he will rein in Twitter pay, make money from tweets -sources

  
  Reuters
• 

  Meta shares surge after Facebook ekes out user growth

  
  Reuters
• 

  Meta shares surge after Facebook ekes out user growth

  
  Reuters
• 

  From weed joke to agreed deal: Inside Musk's $44 billion Twitter buyout

  
  Reuters
• 

  From weed joke to agreed deal: Inside Musk's $44 billion Twitter buyout

  
  Reuters
• 

  Warner Bros Discovery to shut down CNN+ streaming service

  
  Reuters
• 

  Netflix rocked by subscriber loss, may offer cheaper ad-supported plans

  
  Reuters
• 

  Deliveroo found guilty of abusing riders' rights in France

  
  Reuters
• 

  Deliveroo found guilty of abusing riders' rights in France

  
  Reuters
• 

  Elon Musk makes $43 billion cash takeover offer for Twitter

  
  Reuters
• 

  Elon Musk targets Twitter with $41 billion cash takeover offer

  
  Reuters
• 

  Cryptoverse: 10 billion reasons bitcoin could become a reserve currency

  
  Reuters
• 

  HP soars to a record after Buffett's Berkshire reveals $4.2 billion stake

  
  Reuters
• 

  Yellen says U.S. crypto rules should support innovation, manage risks

  
  Reuters

Click to expand

Replay Video

• Do spam bots really comprise under 5% of Twitter users? Elon Musk wants to know Elon Musk tweeted on Friday that his $44-billion cash deal for Twitter was “temporarily on hold” while he waits for the social media company to provide data on the number of its fake accounts - but Reuters Breakingviews columnist Gina Chon says there may be other factors at play. Lisa Bernhard produced this report. Reuters
• Do spam bots really comprise under 5% of Twitter users? Elon Musk wants to know Elon Musk tweeted on Friday that his $44-billion cash deal for Twitter was “temporarily on hold” while he waits for the social media company to provide data on the number of its fake accounts - but Reuters Breakingviews columnist Gina Chon says there may be other factors at play. Lisa Bernhard produced this report. Reuters
• Musk told banks he will rein in Twitter pay, make money from tweets -sources Elon Musk told banks that agreed to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter that he could crack down on executive and board pay at the social media company in a push to slash costs, and would develop new ways to monetize tweets, three people familiar with the matter said. This report produced by Jillian Kitchener. Reuters

UP NEXT

It’s believed Anonymous is also responsible for hacking several Russian state TV channels. People have uploaded videos showing those channels playing Ukrainian music and displaying images of the country’s flag and other nationalistic symbols. 

The collective has also pledged to “keep the Ukrainian people online as best we can,” even as the invasion takes a heavy toll on the country's internet infrastructure. While there hasn’t been a widespread blackout, some parts of Ukraine, particularly those areas where fighting has been the most intense, have seen greatly diminished access. That's something that has prevented people from staying in touch with their loved ones.