How did Anonymous's message get on Russian television?
After declaring war on Vladimir Putin's regime, the global hacking group interrupted Russian state television programming with an anti-war message.
On Sunday, the international cyber activist group Anonymous disrupted Russian state television programming with images of the invasion of Ukraine and an anti-war message, calling on people to oppose the Russian military operation.
What message did Anonymous sent on Russian TV?
Via its social media platform, the group reported that it had hacked Russian streaming services Wink and Ivi, which are similar services to Netflix, as well as live TV programming on Russia 24, Channel One and Moscow 24 to broadcast real war footage from Ukraine. Anonymous also announced the hacking of Russia Today (RT) in France.
More on Russia-Ukraine conflict:
According to Ukrinform, the anti-war message included urged nationals to oppose Russian genocide in Ukraine.
"We are ordinary citizens of Russia. We oppose the war on the territory of Ukraine - Russia and Russians against the war!
“This war was waged by Putin's criminal and authoritarian regime in the name of ordinary Russian citizens. Russians, oppose genocide in Ukraine," the text read.
Anonymous declares cyberwar on Russia
On 24 February, when President Vladimir Putin sent in his troops in an unprovoked and unlawful invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, the online organisation officially declared cyberwar against his regime. "The Anonymous collective is officially in cyber war against the Russian government," they announced on Twitter.
According to Ukrinform, the group has already hacked more than 2,500 state websites, media outlets and others in both Russia and Belarus, another neighbouring country effectively under Russian control.
This is not the first time the hacker group has interfered in international conflicts. Previously, the collective has targeted the Ku Klux Klan and Islamic extremists. In 2020, the group was responsible for exposing the relationships of well-known personalities to Jeffrey Epstein's child trafficking ring.
The list of hundreds of names was uploaded via a social media archive under the name 'Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book', which exposed people who attended parties hosted by Epstein or were involved with him in business or in other ways.