'Anonymous' hacks into Russian firm's website running Ukrainian nuclear power plant

As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to indulge the entire world for the third week, hacker group Anonymous on Tuesday announced that it had hacked into the website of the Russian state corporation for nuclear energy Rosatom. The Russian corporation is believed to be controlling the two nuclear power plants in Ukraine which were seized after Moscow, including Zaporizhzhia and Chernobyl nuclear power plants. Anonymous confirmed that they just hacked the government website and not the nuclear plant. They said, “we would never endanger any lives.”

According to The Jerusalem Post, the hackers changed the interface on the site and made it otherwise inaccessible. Additionally, Anonymous also gained access to gigabytes of data which they now plan to leak to the general public. The hackers breached the Rosatom website after the Russian forces on March 4 captured Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant followed by constant shelling leading to damage in some parts. 

On February 24, the day when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the ‘special’ military operation into Ukraine, the Russian forces swiftly moved to take control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Russia’s aggressive actions considering the nuclear power plants have not only alarmed Ukraine but also the entire world. Ukraine has repeatedly informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) multiple times that they cannot confirm the state of the nuclear plant.

Russia, however, has denied that it is not planning on taking over the plant completely. Officials from Rosatom state corporation had reportedly arrived in Zaporizhzhia on March 11. Before Anonymous hacked into the website of the corporation, Rosatom had claimed the entire ownership of the plant and announced that it is under their firm, according to Ukrainian state-run Energoatom. 

Anonymous’ actions in Russia-Ukraine war

Rosatom's hacking is not the first instance when Anonymous targeted Russia amid its  invasion of Ukraine.Indicating that they are monitoring the developments taking place in the last 21 days of the conflict, most recently, Anonymous slammed billionaire Elon Musk for challenging Putin for a “single combat”. On March 14, the hackers' group said, “Elon has no authority regarding the legal status of statehood & sovereignty of Ukraine.” Earlier, Anonymous had also hacked  Russian streaming services, hitting Wink and Ivi, as well as live TV channels Russia 24, Channel One and Moscow 24 to broadcast footage of the war with Ukraine.

(Image: Pixabay/AP)