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Topics: Ukraine, Russia, World News
Daisy Phillipson
A major Russian radio station was targeted by hackers who used the platform to play the Ukrainian national anthem and anti-war songs.
As Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine enters its 105th day, the Russian media continues to promote pro-war propaganda through its permitted state-run news channels.
However, Kommersant FM – connected to the political and business-focused newspaper of the same name – was intercepted by unknown sources today, June 8.
The news was reported by BBC Monitoring's Russia specialist Francis Scarr, who took to Twitter to write, “Russian radio station Kommersant FM has been hacked and is currently playing Ukrainian and anti-war songs,” alongside a link to the radio station.
In a follow-up tweet, he said: “Midway through a news bulletin not long ago, patriotic Ukrainian song Ой у лузі червона калина started playing.”
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The title is translated to Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow, and is a Ukrainian patriotic anthem.
Red viburnum is a shrub with red berries, and is a national symbol of the Eastern European country.
YouTube channel The Insider also captured a clip of the Ukrainian anthem being played, which you can hear below:
In regard to the interference of Kommersant FM, the station’s editor-in-chief Alexey Vorobyov confirmed the news to state-owned news agency TASS.
A translation of his statement reads: “We really got hacked. Technicians are now investigating the origin of this attack,” which he said is related to the online stream.
He added that the Ukraine national anthem was played on the station’s website, as well as the song We Don’t Need War by the Russian rock band Nogu Svelo.
The news arrives after a series of cyber attacks on Kremlin media designed to expose the truth about the war on Ukraine.
That includes Putin’s speech at Moscow's Red Square last month, when hackers took advantage of the nationwide attention to tell the Russian public what the military has really been up to during their 'special operation'.
Numerous TV channels were subject to the attack, which saw the name of every show changed to: "The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of their children is on your hands. TV and the authorities lie. No to war."
And back in February, just days after the conflict began, major Russian sites including the aforementioned TASS and Kommersant were intercepted to promote anti-war messages, including the statement that Putin had started the invasion to 'get into the history books'.
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