Ukraine fallout: Anonymous launches cyberattack against Russia

After Russia launched an attack against Ukraine, hacker group Anonymous reportedly launched a cyberattack against the Vladimir Putin led government there. The hacker group has claimed that it has taken down various Russian government websites in retaliation. Among the websites, RT.com, Russia’s state operated television network was also affected. The website of the ministry of Defense, the Kremlin and Duma was also targeted. All the websites were either taken down entirely or slowed down to an extent that they became nonfunctional.

Anonymous posted a series of tweets from its official Twitter account in the early hours of February 25 to take responsibility for the cyberattacks. Its Twitter account had this tweet, “#Anonymous is currently involved in operations against the Russian Federation. Our operations are targeting the Russian government. There is an inevitability that the private sector will most likely be affected too”. The account detailed out the reason behind these attacks in subsequent tweets.

Anonymous attacks Russian websites amid the Ukraine-Russia war

Russia’s war against Ukraine has been witnessing rising casualties and destruction. Anonymous has risen up against the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and called him out as a “dictator”. Anonymous also sympathized with the citizens of Russia for being put in a situation beyond their control and appealed to them to stand up to their government to stop the war.

“While this account cannot claim to speak for the whole of the Anonymous collective, we can in fact report the truths of Anonymous' collective actions against the Russian Federation. We want the Russian people to understand that we know it's hard for them to speak out against their dictator for fear of reprisals. We, as a collective, want only peace in the world.

"We want a future for all of humanity. So, while people around the globe smash your internet providers to bits, understand that it's entirely directed at the actions of the Russian government and Putin.Put yourselves in the shoes of the Ukrainians being bombed right now. Together we can change the world, we can stand up against anything. It is time for the Russian people to stand together and say "NO" to Vladimir Putin's war,” the hacker group added.