Russia Hacks Ukrainian TV, Desperately Posts Fake Surrender Message of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
(Photo : KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
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Journalists watch Russian President Vladimir Putin answering questions during the annual "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin broadcast live" by Russian TV channels and radio stations at the Gostiny Dvor studio, in Moscow on June 15, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

Russia hacked a Ukrainian television station and broadcast a fake statement purporting to be from President Volodymyr Zelensky, urging people to surrender and lay down their guns.

The cyber assault was said to have occurred today on Ukraine 24's webstream, and it was purportedly a statement address purporting to be from Zelensky. He allegedly declared he was "capitulating" and would surrender and "give up guns" in it, causing indignation and concern online.

Russia's Desperate Hack on Ukraine's TV Station

However, a lot of sites soon caught up on it, and the president promptly made a video denouncing the false address and claiming it wasn't him. He claimed in it that he never made such a comment and pledged that "the only ones who should give up arms are Russian soldiers."

Many Ukrainians took to social media to call attention to the breach and the fraudulent assertion. In actuality, Ukraine is fighting until the end of the third week against Russia that had purportedly planned a rapid assault of Ukraine in which the capital would be taken in days.

However, after inflicting huge casualties on Moscow's soldiers, the administration Putin and the Kremlin planned to depose. Russia is suspected of being behind the cyber strike, which they have long utilized both within and outside of open conflict.

Russia has traditionally targeted its Eastern European neighbors with hacking and cyber warfare. According to Edward Stringer, Air Marshal and former Director of Operations at the Ministry of Defense, Russia is a country that set loose its most creative and inventive criminals and gave them license to cause mischief everywhere in the globe, according to Mirror.

Read Also: Putin Sends Disguised Transponder Decoys To Confuse Ukrainian Defense Allowing Missiles To Hit Targets

Ukraine, Russia Both Become Victims of Cyberattacks

During the crisis, which is now in its third week, both Ukraine and Russia have been targeted by cyber attacks. Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated that Kyiv would form an "IT army" to combat Moscow's digital invasions. Last month, an alleged distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack took down the Kremlin's main website and the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to specialists from the cybersecurity firm ESET, malicious data-wiping malware has also been spotted spreading in Ukraine, affecting hundreds of PCs. Google announced earlier this month that it had observed Russian hackers who have been identified by law authorities engaged in espionage, phishing operations, and other assaults against Ukraine and its European allies.

The digital sabotage of Viasat's KA-SAT network in February, according to a top Ukrainian cybersecurity officer, caused a catastrophic communications outage at the start of Russia's invasion. On February 24, when Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine, tens of thousands of satellite modems across Europe were crippled. Victor Zhora stated he couldn't say anything about the situation, Express reported.

Meanwhile, Dmitri Alperovitch, a leading cybersecurity specialist, was one of the first to warn that Putin would attack Ukraine. He fully expected Russian President Vladimir Putin to command cyber assaults in retaliation for economic penalties. Teams of cyber-security professionals are already on high alert. Attacks on Swift, the communications system used to transport payments across borders, have disturbed senior officials at many institutions.

Attacks on nuclear power stations have even been mentioned as a possibility. While catastrophic "cybergeddon" possibilities cannot be ignored entirely, experts feel they are unlikely, as per Sky News.

Related Article: Zelensky Stays Optimistic on Peace Talks As Russian Forces Try To Destroy Ukraine Defenses

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