Russians warned of nuclear attack after hackers break in to country’s TV service

Hacked Russian TV and radio stations broadcast alarming messages of a nuclear attack and urged residents to put on gas masks and run for cover.

On Thursday, residents of eastern Russia were told to “take potassium iodide pills” and seek shelter immediately during the hacked broadcast, according to a Metro report.

“There was a strike. Go to a shelter immediately,” is shown as a map of Russia showing the country red from west to east. “Seal the premises. Use all types of gas masks. In the absence of gas masks, use cotton-gauze bandages.”

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The full moon lights up the sky over the Moscow Kremlin Embankment. (Marina Listseva / TASS via Getty Images)

The screen also displayed a black and yellow radiation warning with a message urging people to “take shelter immediately”.

The messages were seen on TV and heard on radio stations in the Moscow and Sverdlovsk regions. The messages also disrupted programming in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth largest city.

The hack was so widespread that it forced the Russian Emergency Ministry to respond, issuing a statement assuring residents that “false air raid warnings were broadcast in Moscow after servers of radio stations and TV channels were hacked”. “

Rescue workers survey the scene of the Russian attack on Kiev, Ukraine.

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Hackers have frequently targeted Russians with messages of fake attacks since the country launched its invasion of neighboring Ukraine, including on February 22 with sirens broadcasting “air raid warnings” and less than a week later ” Missile threat”.

A day before the latest hack, streaming services in Russia were hacked and taken offline during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address on the state of the nation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via Reuters)

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A group called Ukraine’s IT Army, which formed soon after the invasion, claimed credit for the attack on streaming services, but has not claimed credit for the recent dire warnings on Russian TV and radio.