Hackers of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) broke into servers of several Russian television channels and broadcasted “objective videos about the war in Ukraine,” a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on Aug. 22.
According to the source, HUR‘s footage was displayed three times on prime-time TV channels: Pervouralsk TV, Eurasia 360, Eurasia Pervyi Kanal, and others.
The targeted channels further reportedly included Lugansk 24, Pervyi Respublikanskyi, SpB, Oplot, TV-3, and Pervyi Rosiyskyi. Some of the targeted channels belong to Russian oligarch Andrey Komarov.
According to the source, the nine channels had to suspend their broadcasting as a result of the hack.
The claims appear to be corroborated by Russian media reports and footage shared on social media.
The TV company Pervouralsk issued an apology on the VKontakte social network, saying that unspecified “attackers gained access to the live broadcast and launched unauthorized video materials that contradict the TV channel’s policy.”
“Our specialists are currently taking all necessary security steps. In this regard, broadcasting will be suspended on Aug. 22.”
In a video provided by the source, footage of a TV screen, presumably in a Russian household, shows a clip of Ukrainian soldiers and Russian casualties. A Russian-language voiceover comments on Sudzha – a Russian town in Kursk Oblast held by Ukraine – and on Moscow’s losses.
“As of the morning of Aug. 22, only Eurasia 360 and TV-3 have partially resumed their work, while the broadcasting of others remains blocked,” the source said.
Cyberattacks have been widely used by both sides during the full-scale war.
Earlier in July, HUR claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on nearly 100 Russian websites that support the Kremlin’s war effort and, separately, on a number of Russian banks and financial institutions.
In turn, Ukraine’s Monobank came under a two-day-long DDoS attack earlier this week.
Cyberattack hits Monobank, Ukraine’s largest direct bank
“Yesterday, it subsided at 10:30 p.m., and today, it started again at 3:15 a.m. We are approaching 3 billion service requests in two days,” said Oleh Horokhovskyi, the bank’s co-owner, on Aug. 17.