According to the reports, a suspected DDoS attack downed several websites broadcasting President Putin’s state of the nation address on Tuesday.
Journalists in several locations were unable to access the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) website or the Smotrim live-streaming platform for periods during the speech.
The Smotrim site simply didn’t load, while VGTRK displayed an error message saying technical works were being carried out.
A Twitter account linked to the IT Army of Ukraine confirmed the same.
The IT Army is a hacktivist group founded at the start of the war for supporters to help attack Russian targets. It selects these targets and then publicizes them to a Telegram group.
Another hacking gang, said to be supporters of anti-Putin opposition member Alexei Navalny, has also claimed responsibility for the attack, reports Newsweek, saying it worked with other hackers to take the sites offline.
A similar attack was carried out recently during a speech by Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, where The Edelat-e Ali group hijacked the broadcast to call for the downfall of the government and to urge people to take part in nationwide protests.
