On October 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 72nd birthday amid an intense cyberattack that crippled the online operations of state media. This milestone comes as Putin nears 25 years in power. In a surprising development, extreme nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin took to social media to express his birthday wishes, invoking the phrase “God save the Tsar.” Meanwhile, the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), which runs major state television channels, fell victim to an unprecedented hacking incident. Reports suggest that hackers, reportedly from Ukraine, targeted the media company to “celebrate” Putin’s birthday.
Voice of America reported that VGTRK’s websites experienced significant disruptions, including the inaccessibility of the Rossiya-24 news channel. A source from the Ukrainian government confirmed that the cyber assault was launched from Kyiv.
Reuters noted that their journalists encountered a “503 Service Unavailable” error message when attempting to access the affected website, indicating that the server was incapable of handling requests.
The Kremlin acknowledged that VGTRK’s online platforms faced a “previously unseen cyberattack,” highlighting that these channels primarily cover news related to the ongoing war in Ukraine, including major outlets like Russia-1 and Russia-24.
A Ukrainian official provided further details to Reuters, asserting that Ukrainian hackers orchestrated the large-scale attack on VGTRK specifically to “congratulate” Putin on his 72nd birthday.
The Russian state news outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that the cyberattack impacted both the online and internal operations of VGTRK, leading to a complete shutdown of online broadcasts and internal services, with repairs anticipated to take a considerable amount of time. An anonymous source referred to the attack as “unprecedented.”
While the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not name the attackers, they described the incident as an assault by the “collective West” and characterized it as part of “hybrid warfare.”
Independent Russian journalist Alexander Plyushchev commented on the situation, stating, “Since 5 AM, the entire news complex of Russia-1 has been malfunctioning. The central control and all servers have gone down.”
Among the first messages of support for Putin’s military actions in Ukraine, Dugin’s public birthday wish stood out. At 62, Dugin has long advocated for a unified Russian-speaking region and the formation of a New Russia Empire, which includes territories currently in conflict with Russia, such as Ukraine.
Since the onset of the Russo-Ukrainian war, several prominent pro-war figures in Russia have been assassinated, including Dugin’s daughter, Darya, who was killed in a car bomb attack in 2022.
Dugin has consistently defended Putin’s opposition to the West and military actions in Ukraine as justified.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, known for his loyalty to Russia, also shared his birthday congratulations via Telegram, stating, “Today is the birthday of our country’s leader, a moment of great significance for the entire motherland.” Kadyrov has previously referred to himself as one of Putin’s “foot soldiers.”
