The hacker group Anonymous claimed it hacked into Russian state television over the weekend and played video of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as anti-war messaging.
“The hacking collective #Anonymous hacked into the Russian streaming services Wink and Ivi (like Netflix) and live TV channels Russia 24, Channel One, Moscow 24 to broadcast war footage from Ukraine [today],” Anonymous tweeted on Sunday.
The group said that activists are also “broadcasting troll faces on Russian military radio.”
The hack comes amid Russia’s intense efforts to push propaganda justifying its invasion of Ukraine and censoring the deaths and devastation caused by their assault. Several Russian citizens interviewed last week expressed they didn’t know an invasion was even taking place, and some refused to believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered it.
On Sunday, the group tweeted concern that their actions against Russian leaders might be perceived as a threat globally, prompting the group to clarify that they “only want peace, not war.”
“We are #Anonymous. We are involved in the biggest Anonymous op ever seen. That being said, we are worried that some governments will indeed see us as a threat and create some scenario to make us look bad (false flag). We only want peace, not war. (continued),” Anonymous tweeted.
“We’ve been in the limelight before. We’ve made the news plenty of times, but never anything like what we are experiencing right now. We obviously know governments around the globe are watching what we are doing. Many of these governments have experienced our shenanigans,” they said, continuing in a separate tweet, “We abhor violence. We are anti-war. We are against police brutality. We have raised our fists in the air to stand against aggressor’s time and time again. We would never choose to hurt anyone physically. Understand this and know this if any government says otherwise. (cont).”
“Remember us when various powers turn their attention towards us, because it will happen. We can change the world for the better. That has always been the idea. Ideas are bulletproof. Signed, #Anonymous,” the hacker group added.
Anonymous previously declared war against Putin for his military action in Ukraine.
“Anonymous VS Vladimir Putin,” the group tweeted. “This is a war Putin cannot win.”
Anonymous reiterated in a separate tweet that the group was not at war with Russia, but rather Putin himself for his “war of aggression” against Ukraine.
“No. Anonymous is not at war with Russia. We are at war with Putin. The Russian people do not support Putin’s war of aggression against the Ukrainian people. Be wary of accounts posting false statements who are not even involved in actions against Putin,” the group tweeted on Feb. 26.
