Hackers targeted Russian state media giant VGTRK on Monday, disrupting its online broadcasting, the state-run Gazeta.ru news outlet reported.
VGTRK operates several national television channels, including Rossia 1 and Rossia 24, in addition to more than 80 regional television and radio stations.
“Online broadcasting and internal services are down, even the internet and telephones are gone. It's going to be a long time. I heard they wiped everything off the servers, including backups,” Gazeta.ru quoted an anonymous source as saying, calling the attack “unprecedented.”
The St. Petersburg-based news website Fontanka.ru wrote that it had “verified that some internet users could not download Rossia 1 and Rossia 24,” while digital TV broadcasting was working without interruptions.
The independent news outlet Govorit NeMoskva reported that VGTRK’s online broadcasting and internal services were not working, citing readers. The outlet published several screenshots showing a 503 error on VGTRK sites.
Independent journalist Alexander Plyushchev cited a source as saying that “the entire news complex of Rossia 1 has been out of order since 5 a.m. Central command and all servers are down.”
VGTRK told Gazeta.ru that it was “not possible” to comment.
Several online streams of VGTRK-run television channels were still down as of 5:00 p.m. Moscow time.
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