Russian hackers attack Ukrainian media outlets

Several Ukrainian media outlets were attacked by Russian hackers this week, posting misinformation about the ongoing war between the two countries.

Ukrainska Pravda, one of the largest online Ukrainian newspapers, and Liga.net, a business media site, were hacked in recent days. Ukraine’s cybersecurity agency confirmed via Telegram that the hacks came from Russia.

“Russia continues the information war against our state. Today, Russian hackers launched another attack on a number of Ukrainian media and posted fake information on their resources,” the cybersecurity agency posted.

Representatives from the organizations have contacted the Government Computer Emergency Response Team and experts are investigating the incident, the agency said.

Ukrainska Pravda’s account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, was hacked Sunday. The organization’s editorial team “lost access to the UP account” and “fakes began to appear on the page.”

The organization said the false information pertained to the recent Ukrainian withdrawal in Avdiivka. Ukraine’s commander in chief said last week that troops were leaving the city in eastern Ukraine to save the lives and health of its soldiers.

“We are trying to restore access. Please do not consider the information posted on our Ukrainian-language X account as having anything to do with Ukrainska Pravda,” the organization said, adding that its English-language account has not been hacked.

Liga.net also said a fake news story appeared on its site Sunday about the “alleged ‘rout’ by the Russian occupiers of the elite units of the Armed Forces in Avdiivka.”

“The editors of LIGA.net are not involved in the publication of Russian disinformation, the site was hacked by unknown persons,” the organization said.

The outlet said the article was quickly removed but still was active “for some time” and was “automatically spread” on the organization’s X account. It said it is investigating its security gaps to prevent it from happening.

The news of the hacks comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down for an interview with pundit Tucker Carlson, where he spread propaganda about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as part of his ongoing information warfare campaign.

Ukraine’s cybersecurity agency said in a post last year that the “most intense period of hostile cyber activity” against Ukrainian media outlets was at the beginning of the invasion nearly two years ago, although it has continued throughout the duration of the war.