Russian state media hit by cyberattack on Putin's birthday
What's the story
All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), a leading Russian state media company, was hit by a major cyberattack today.
The attack came on the occasion of President Vladimir Putin's 72nd birthday.
Speaking to Reuters, a Ukrainian government insider blamed the attack on Ukrainian hackers. However, the claim has not been independently verified.
Operational disruption
Impact on VGTRK's operations
The cyberattack crippled VGTRK's operations, making its website and Rossiya-24 news channel inaccessible online.
An error message reading "503 Service Unavailable. No server is available to handle this request," appeared when one tried to access the livestream.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed this was an unprecedented attack on their digital infrastructure, and efforts are underway to mitigate its effects.
Ongoing probe
Investigation into the attack
Peskov also said that specialists are investigating the incident to trace its origin, and those behind this attack on their critical infrastructure.
VGTRK, which had earlier admitted to a cyberattack on its online service overnight, is yet to respond to requests for comment.
The company's news channels are a key source of information for many Russians about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Damage assessment
Extent of damage
According to Gazeta.ru, an anonymous source revealed that the cyberattack hit both online and internal services of VGTRK, which also runs radio stations and several regional TV channels.
The source said, "Online broadcasting and internal services are down and even the Internet and telephony are not working." They further added that it would take a long time to restore these services.
Official reaction
Russian Foreign Ministry's response to the cyberattack
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, did not name any suspects behind the attack.
However, she did say that Russian media has long been a target for what she called "the collective West," and called this incident part of "a hybrid war."
Zakharova also said Russia plans to raise this cyberattack in all international forums, including UNESCO.