Ukraine claims cyberattack that blocked Russian state TV online on Putin’s birthday

Ukrainian hackers carried out a cyberattack that took down online broadcasts of Russian state television and radio channels on Monday, according to an official in Kyiv with knowledge of the operation.

At least 20 Russian broadcasters were affected by the hack including the Rossiya 24 news service, the official said, asking not to be identified because the issue is sensitive. The claim couldn’t be independently verified by Bloomberg News.

The disruption to the broadcasts coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 72nd birthday.

Russia’s VGTRK state media holding reported an “unprecedented” cyberattack on its online broadcasts early Monday, the Tass news service reported, citing the company. The main Rossiya-1, Rossiya-24 and Kultura channels were among those affected, as well as radio stations including Vesti FM and Mayak, according to Tass.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the media holding was making “colossal efforts” to mitigate the consequences of the attack and that specialists were working to trace those responsible.

An anonymous pro-Ukrainian hacker group “Sudo rm-RF,” which has repeatedly claimed attacks on Russian digital infrastructure, said it was responsible.