'Anonymous' claims to leak personal data of 120,000 Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine

Cyber hacking group ‘Anonymous’ on Sunday claimed the responsibility for leaking the personal information regarding 120,000 Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. Saying that the information was leaked last month, the information included names, dates of birth, addresses, unit affiliation and passport numbers. ‘Anonymous’ said in a tweet, “All soldiers participating in the invasion of Ukraine should be subjected to a war crime tribunal”. 

Anonymous claimed responsibility for leaking personal information amid heightened scrutiny over alleged human rights abuses committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. Evidence has emerged suggesting that Ukrainian citizens in the town north of Kyiv were shot to death with hands tied behind their backs, and dead bodies were spotted in the yards, cars and even on the streets. 

It is pertinent to note that the leak of personal information of 120,000 Russian soldiers appeared in the Ukrainian news outlet Pravda on March 1, just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special’ military operation in Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian outlet had not disclosed the time when the information came and stated that the “Centre for Defence Strategies acquired this data from reliable sources."

‘We’re witnessing the evils Russia is doing’, the hacker group said

‘Anonymous’, the ‘hacktivist’ group rose its activities against the Russian government amid the Russia-Ukraine war and has repeatedly condemned Putin’s actions. Recently, it also tweeted, “We're all witnessing the evils Russia is doing…It's going to take a very long time to accept Russia back into the human race after all the crimes it's committed via Putin."

Since February 24, when Russia’s military aggression began in Ukraine, ‘Anonymous’ claimed responsibility for various hacks on the Russian government. Most recently, the hacker group claimed to hack the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Lipetsk Mechanical Plant, which manufactures components for anti-aircraft missile launchers and other military equipment. Taking to Twitter, the hacker collective said that they have merged and posted around 15 GB of data from the church’s charity wing on the internet. 

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