The hacktivists strike again
As the war in Ukraine continues, it would appear that hacking group Anonymous has now taken down all Russian state TV channels, replacing broadcasts with Ukrainian footage and anti-war messages.
Photos and videos are being shared across social media of Russian televisions with their regular scheduled programming interrupted by messages said to have been sent by the hacktivist group.
JUST IN: The hacking collective #Anonymous today hacked into the Russian streaming services Wink and Ivi (like Netflix) and live TV channels Russia 24, Channel One, Moscow 24 to broadcast war footage from #Ukraine. #TangoDown #OpRussia pic.twitter.com/2V8opv7Dg9
— Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 (@YourAnonTV) March 6, 2022
This comes after Russian state TV has been heavily accused of censoring and/or heavily manipulating reports on what is really happening in Ukraine; just last week, they used the services of a famous child celebrity to create propaganda aimed at children.
MORE: The Russia Today (RT) France channel was also hacked on the Russian Express satellite. #OpRussia #Anonymous pic.twitter.com/JOF3slS0d1
— Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 (@YourAnonTV) March 6, 2022
Numerous messages have been displayed and people on Twitter have been taking the time to carry out the translations; one such message reads as follows:
“We are ordinary citizens of Russia. We oppose the war on the territory of Ukraine. Russia and Russians are against the war. This war is tied up in Putin’s criminal, authoritarian regime.
“On behalf of the ordinary citizens of the Russian Federation”
As you can see, Russians are also seeing what for many, may have been previously unseen footage – such as the missile strike in Kharkiv, which killed nine and injured 37.
Despite having already shown their solidarity with Ukraine in large-scale protests, many people are getting more information on what the situation is really like across the border.
The Russian government and national infrastructure has already been targeted, not only through official sanctions but also by the “hacktivist collective”, hitting everything from the Russian space agency to spelling out anti-Putin messages in maritime data.
Related links:
- President Zelensky thanks Elon Musk for providing internet to ‘destroyed cities’ in Ukraine
- Horror and humanity on Ukraine’s border: not all refugees are welcome
- France urges UK to do more to help Ukrainian refugees in Calais
