Russian ministry website is ‘hacked’ with ‘Glory to Ukraine’ message in fresh humiliation for Kremlin
- Kremlin housing ministry site hacked with users sent to ‘Glory to Ukraine’ page
- Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities website down but data safe: RIA
- Hackers allegedly wanted ransom or they’d share users’ data – but unconfirmed
- Ukrainian hackers disrupted Victory Day parade streams and video site RuTube
Ukrainian hackers appeared to break into the website of a Russian government ministry, sending users to a page with a ‘Glory to Ukraine’ graphic.
The official website of Moscow’s Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities was down last night while officials fixed the hack.
Kremlin-backed news agency RIA reported that users’ personal data was kept safe.
It added that the hackers demanded a ransom in return for not revealing users’ personal data. This claim was not verified.
Cyber conflict has become yet another frontier in Russia’s violent war on Ukraine (Illustration)
Many Russian state-owned companies and news organisations have suffered sporadic hacking attempts since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine on February 24.
Hacking attacks in early May kept video-hosting site RuTube offline for three days.
Menus on Moscow satellite TV were sabotaged during coverage of Putin’s Victory Day parade in Red Square on May 9.
Meanwhile the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency reported on Sunday that the broadcast of the Ukraine-Wales football match was temporarily hacked, reportedly by Russians.
Reuters was not able to verify that report.
The news followed reports of yet another slain Russian general in Ukraine.
Ukrainian hackers have been able to disrupt Victory Day streams and video site RuTube
Major General Kanamat Botashev was part of a two-ship formation flying low over the Donbass region when his £9million aircraft was struck by a surface-to-air missile, according to a report of his funeral in Russian outlet Kommersant.
Botashev was shot down in late May as he was trying to help Russian ground troops escape an encirclement.
The 63-year-old fighter pilot had previously been retired before returning to front-line duties.
At least 31 Russian military pilots have lost their lives over Ukraine, although the figure could be higher.
Putin’s war has proved a humiliating failure, with Russia failing to take Kyiv or second city Kharkiv before pivoting to the eastern Donbas region.
A Kharkiv apartment building is pictured on June 1 after repeated Russian shelling
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday renewed his call for an immediate halt to violence on the 100th day of the war in Ukraine.
The UN chief also called for urgent protection for civilians, unfettered access to provide them with humanitarian aid and safely evacuate those trapped in areas where fighting is taking place, and respect for human rights.
‘The conflict has already taken thousands of lives, caused untold destruction, displaced millions of people, resulted in unacceptable violations of human rights and is inflaming a three-dimensional global crisis – food, energy and finance – that is pummeling the most vulnerable people, countries and economies,’ Guterres said in a statement on Friday.
US officials said last Tuesday that some 20 per cent of Russia’s combat forces in Ukraine – estimated at 150,000 before the war started – are now out of action.
That would mean 30,000 killed or wounded in action.
America also believes that Russia has lost more than 1,000 tanks and is struggling to replace them due to sanctions, perhaps explaining why 50-year-old models were recently filmed heading to the front having been taken out of long-term storage.
A suburb of Donbas city Druzhkivka, the scene of intense fighting, is pictured yesterday
Russia is fighting a bloody battle for control of the Donbas region, with both sides thought to be suffering heavy losses on a frontline described as ‘hell’.
Fighting is currently concentrated around the city of Severodonetsk, one of the last Ukrainian strongholds in Luhansk province, which appears on the verge of falling to Russian forces.
Putin’s men will then only need to capture the city of Lysychansk – located just a few hundreds yards away across an industrial zone – to claim ownership of Luhansk.
More than 100,000 Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s borders in the days leading up to February 24, but many analysts and commentators dismissed the notion that Russia would launch a full scale invasion into its European neighbour.
Russia has restarted artillery strikes on Kyiv targets in recent days (factory pictured, June 5)
Those who did predict such a conflict warned Putin’s troops, superior in numbers and equipment, would sweep to victory in a matter of days.
More than three months later, Ukraine’s armed forces, driven by a duty to protect their homeland and reinforced by Western supplies and weaponry, have successfully repelled Russia’s soldiers from Kyiv and are still fighting their invaders fiercely throughout the Donbas.
The Kremlin has only once released official figures for troop deaths, when a general told state media on March 25 that 1,351 soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded.
But the Land Forces of Ukraine, which have kept a running tally of Russian losses throughout the war, say more than 30,000 of Putin’s soldiers have been killed so far, while Western estimates given in late April put the number at more than 15,000.
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