Pro-Ukrainian saboteurs hacked Russian television channels in Crimea overnight to broadcast President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech promising to liberate the occupied peninsula.
In a further humiliation for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, pranksters changed the name of all 20 channels on Crimea’s IPTV network to “Putin is ad-head”, as seen in videos shared online.
In his brief speech to the people of Crimea, who have lived under Moscow’s control since the region was illegally annexed in 2014, Zelensky promised that the occupiers’ presence there “will not last forever.”
“Ukraine will return its territory, to our people,” he said. “We will not leave anyone in the hands of the occupiers.”
The hackers also transmitted a pre-recorded message from General Valerii Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, followed by words from Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to liberate Crimea from Russian occupation in a message broadcast by hackers on Russian television channels. RBK Ukraine/east2west news Pro-kyiv saboteurs breached all 20 channels of the IPTV network on Wednesday night. Cautious News/East2west News
“Crimea will be returned,” Budanov proclaimed. “Crimea is ours. Russia should not exist. It is ours and no one else’s.”
The shameful attack was confirmed by Oleg Kryuchkov, an official in the Kremlin-backed Crimean administration.
“Several Internet providers in Crimea have been hacked by the enemy,” Kryuchkov wrote on his Telegram channel. “Technical services are working on this. All problems will be resolved in the near future.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Kryuchkov blamed the breach on the Ukrainian Center for Psychological Information and Special Operations.
Separately, Ukrainian hackers working with cyber specialists from the Ukrainian Security Service also manipulated the website of the Russian Ministry of Labor and Social Security and allegedly obtained a trove of classified information. RBC-Ukraine reported.
This is not the first time that Ukrainian hackers have dominated the information war being waged in Crimea.
In June, the broadcasts of two Russian cable channels were interrupted by a video from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry showing soldiers looking into the camera while putting a finger to their lips.
Rescuers work to put out a fire at a residential building damaged by recent shelling during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in Donetsk on Thursday. REUTERS
The eerie images were accompanied by a message in Ukrainian that read: “Plans like silence. “There won’t be any announcement that ‘it’s starting.’”
In February, two Crimean radio stations were breached to broadcast the Ukrainian national anthem, followed by a message from Budanov, who promised that Kiev forces would liberate all occupied territories and destroy “all traitors to Ukraine.”
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn