Several Russian radio stations, victims of “hacking”, broadcast on Monday a false speech by President Vladimir Putin reporting a Ukrainian “invasion” and announcing the establishment of martial law in the border regions of Ukraine. , Russian authorities said.
A hack that comes as bombings increase in the Belgorod region
This “speech” affirming that “Ukrainian forces armed to the teeth (…) and supported by Washington have invaded the regions of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk”, was broadcast Monday on several radio stations in these border territories of Ukraine, according to local authorities. The voice and tone sounded very much like the Russian president.
The same message, attributed to Vladimir Putin and taken up on some social networks, announced the establishment of martial law in these regions, the forthcoming signing of a presidential decree on general mobilization in Russia and called on local residents to evacuate.
This hack came as incursions and bombings have increased for two weeks in the Belgorod region where pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters are attacking Russian forces. “It was indeed a hack. We are aware of it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies, assuring that frequency control had been restored by the radio stations concerned.
Spread panic among the peaceful inhabitants
“The information about the invasion of Ukrainian forces in the Belgorod region, the establishment of martial law, the general mobilization and the evacuation (…) is a fake”, affirmed for their part the authorities of the Belgorod region. “The objective of this message is to sow panic among the peaceful inhabitants”, assured on Telegram the crisis cell set up by the authorities, calling for “keep calm” and trust only the sources of information ” reliable”.
In the Voronezh region, also bordering Ukraine and some radios of which were also hacked, the authorities assured residents that there was “no reason to worry”. “The situation in the region is under control of the authorities and law enforcement,” they said on Telegram.
According to one of the radio stations affected, MIR, it lost control of its frequencies for around 40 minutes in the afternoon, calling everything that was broadcast during this period “total fake and provocation”.