Anonymous claims it has hacked Russian TV news channels and streaming services to broadcast footage of the war in Ukraine

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By Carina Murphy

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Anonymous claims they have hacked Russian TV news channels and streaming services to show footage of the war in Ukraine.

The hacking group - which declared a "cyberwar" on Vladimir Putin's government following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 - described the operation as the "biggest Anonymous op ever seen."

In a post shared to Twitter earlier today, they announced that they had hacked into various Russian news channels as well as streaming sites in order to "broadcast war footage from Ukraine".

"The hacking collective #Anonymous hacked into the Russian streaming services Wink and Ivi (like Netflix) and live TV channels Russia 24, Channel One, Moscow 24 to broadcast war footage from Ukraine [today]," read the tweet.

The tweet also included a video of Anonymous streaming on Russian TV. At the end of a clip, a message appeared urging Russians to oppose Putin's invasion, stating: "Ordinary Russians are against the war".

The validity of the footage is still uncertain, but the hacking collective's latest operation has been reported by publications such as The Independent and the Daily Mail, as well as amassing over 1 million views on Twitter.

Several days after President Putin launched a military invasion of Ukraine, the hacking group issued a personal warning to the Russian leader, threatening "unprecedented cyber-attacks from all corners of the world."

In the video, Anonymous's trademark masked figure said: "Mr Putin, the ongoing invasion of Ukraine has shown that your regime has no respect for human rights or the self-determination of your neighbors. In the past several days a full-scale invasion has commenced, civilian neighborhoods have been bombed and innocent people have been killed."

"Refugees are fleeing the violence and the population is being forced into conscription by Ukrainian officials. This is an ugly situation all around but you are the instigator," they continued.

The clip then cut to reports of protests in Russia, saying that even Putin's own citizens are against him.

"Members of Anonymous have declared cyber war against your aggressive regime, with numerous government websites being taken offline in the past several days. A few downed websites is only the beginning, though. Soon you will feel the full wrath of the world’s hackers, many of whom will likely reside from your home country," said the masked figure.

"Your secrets may no longer be safe and there is a chance that key components of your government’s infrastructure could be hijacked," the message continued, before ending with a chilling threat.

"The people of the world will resist you every step of the way. This is not a war that you can win, regardless of how powerful you think you are. We are Anonymous. We are legion. Expect us," it finished.

If you would like to know how you can support the Ukrainian people at this time, click HERE to find a list of organizations and groups dedicated to helping those affected by this crisis.

Featured Image Credit: Artur Marciniec / Alamy