The public was warned to don gas masks and run for cover by hacked Russian TV and radio stations, which also broadcast shocking warnings of a nuclear assault.
According to a Metro story, people in eastern Russia were instructed to take potassium iodide pills and find shelter right away on Thursday during the hacking broadcast.
The messages were broadcast on radio and TV in the Sverdlovsk and Moscow regions. In Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia, the messages also disrupted television programming.
The attack was so pervasive that it prompted the Russian emergency ministry to act. They issued a statement informing citizens that a bogus air raid alert was broadcast in Moscow as a result of compromised radio and television station systems.
Since the nation’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine began, hackers have repeatedly targeted Russians with threats of fictitious attacks. Examples include a siren that aired an “air raid alarm” on February 22 and another that did the same less than a week later.
Russian streaming services were compromised the day before the most recent attack, and they were taken offline during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation address.
The attack on the streaming sites was attributed to a group called IT Army of Ukraine, which emerged soon after the invasion, but it has not been assigned credit for the more recent ominous warning on Russian TV and radio.
The news that some Russian insiders think Thursday’s prank was really a Moscow ploy “to get the country and its people ready for a hypothetical nuclear assault launched by Putin is even more alarming.
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Ukraine Doesn’t Take Responsibility for Nuclear Warning
Russian stations have been the victim of attacks three times in the previous month. A bogus warning about an approaching missile assault was issued in Crimea last month. Ukraine was held accountable for this incident. A week later, at Vladimir Putin’s State of the Union address, a similar broadcast was played.
None of the suspected cyberattacks have been claimed by Ukraine. According to officials, the majority of Ukraine’s power supply has been restored as the nation defiantly and promptly reacts to the most recent Russian missile and drone onslaught that targets vital infrastructure.
The Kremlin’s forces attacked Ukraine from a distance in the midst of months of a grinding warfare stalemate in eastern areas, which has become a typical Russian strategy since the autumn.
It appears that the objective is to erode Ukraine’s determination and pressure the Ukrainian leadership to engage in peace talks with Russia.
As part of an ongoing cycle of urban smash-and-repair that hasn’t resulted in much change in the course of the war, Ukrainian officials hurried to counter the effects of the bombardment.
The will of Ukraine will not be undermined by these missile strikes, according to a report by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, which also noted that Russia’s positions on the front lines would not be strengthened.
The Russians are attacking civilian infrastructure, according to Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov, since they are unable to effectively target Ukrainian military assets.
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