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Ministry: Ukrainian hackers disrupt transport services in Russian cities

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Ministry: Ukrainian hackers disrupt transport services in Russian cities
Illustrative purposes only: Facial recognition payment gates at Smolenskaya metro station in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. The Moscow metro system, which carries more people annually than New York subway, is trialing its Face Pay facial recognition technology to allow passengers to pay their fares. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hackers of the IT Army of Ukraine targeted the Russian government and local systems, disrupting the fare payment system in Moscow and Kazan public transport, the Digital Transformation Ministry said on March 13.

Cyberattacks have become an increasingly common tool employed by both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The multi-faceted cyberattack reportedly targeted the Troika fare payment system, used in 38 Russian regions.

The ministry said that as a result, owners of transport cards in Moscow and Kazan could not pay for their tickets, top-up travel cards, or pay for parking.

The IT Army of Ukraine, a group of volunteer hackers supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression, said the operation was prepared for nearly a month.

"Collateral damage exceeded our expectations, with visible damage to some state networks and associated providers, including the parking system," the group said.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency said earlier this month that it had hacked the servers of Russia's Defense Ministry, marking another successful cyberattack against Russia.

In turn, Ukraine suffered one of the largest attacks last December when a group of allegedly Russian-affiliated hackers disabled the services of Kyivstar, the country's leading telecommunications provider.

Ukraine’s military intelligence claims cyberattack on Russian Defense Ministry
The operation by HUR’s cyber specialists reportedly helped to obtain orders, reports, instructions, and reports “that circulated among about 2,000 structural units of the Russian security service.”
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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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