Russians told to take anti-radiation pills, rush to bomb shelters as TV station servers are hacked

Russians were warned today to take anti-radiation pills and rush to their nearest nuclear bomb shelters after hackers compromised state television servers to broadcast chilling messages.

TV and radio programmes in Moscow and the Sverdlovsk region, including Yekaterinburg city, were interrupted with an alarming message telling citizens a missile strike had been conducted on Russian soil.

The population was urged to take potassium iodide pills, don gas masks to protect themselves and to seek shelter.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry said hacking was responsible for the false alarm – the third such case in the past month but the first in which viewers were warned to take anti-radiation pills.

An ominous map of Russia slowly being covered in red was broadcast into people’s homes with the message ‘Everyone to the shelters immediately’

A warning to Russians to take anti-radiation pills after a missile strike appeared today on TV channels in Moscow and the Sverdlovsk region

Russian media has been the target of several hacking attacks since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022

A TV warning accompanied by a blaring siren warned: ‘Urgent message. There was a strike.

‘Urgently go to a shelter. Seal the premises. Use gas masks of all types.

‘In the absence of gas masks, use cotton-gauze bandages. Take potassium iodide pills.

‘Keep calm. Should you feel worse, go to the nearest medical facility.’

Hacked screens displayed an ominous map of Russia, gradually covered with red from west to east.

A message below in bright yellow stated: ‘Everyone immediately to shelter.’

The screen then showed the instantly recognisable black and yellow radiation warning sign.

A Russian emergencies ministry statement said: ‘A false air raid alert was broadcast in Moscow after servers of radio stations and TV channels were hacked.’

There were claims satellite signals broadcasting the TV and radio content were disrupted.

Some commentators claimed this could be a ploy by the Kremlin to warn the public to be ready for war as Putin ramps up his rhetoric amid deep tension between east and west over the conflict in Ukraine. 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though Russian media has been the target of several hacking attacks since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Another high-profile hack recently interrupted the broadcast of President Putin’s state of the nation address in Moscow on February 2021

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual address before the Federal Assembly at the Gostiny Dvor conference center in Moscow, Russia, 21 February 2023 

One such hacking instance last month saw millions of Russians across four time zones told to rush to air raid shelters because of an imminent missile attack as radio broadcasts were interrupted.

The spoof warning claimed: ‘An air alert is being announced. Everyone, go to the shelters immediately. Attention! Attention! There is a threat of a missile strike.’

Among the cities affected were Belgorod, Stary Oskol, Ufa, Kazan, Novouralsk, Novosibirsk, Pyatigorsk, Tyumen, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod and Magnitogorsk as well as a number of places in the Moscow region.

A spokesman for Gazprom Media, which runs several of the hacked stations, said at the time: ‘We are dealing with this issue. This will not happen again in the near future.’

Another high-profile hack recently interrupted the broadcast of President Putin’s state of the nation address in Moscow on February 2021. 

The web links of main state channels, which are part of All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company [VGTRK], were hit by an apparent major hack operation as Putin spoke to lawmakers in Russia’s parliament.

Instead of Putin’s speech, a notice on screen announced ‘Mistake 500’ and that ‘technical works’ were underway.

There was no official confirmation of hacking – but it appeared a major problem had hit the state broadcaster across all 11 of Russia’s time zones.

The state-run RIA Novosti news agency later said the outage was the result of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, but did not name a suspect.