HUR Hackers Left Russia’s Tatarstan Without Communication and Internet

Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) is conducting a large-scale cyberattack on internet providers and mobile operators in Russia’s Tatarstan, Kyiv Post sources in intelligence said on Friday, May 3.

The main targets of the cyber operation are communication networks in the special economic zone of Alabuga, where more than 30 industries are located, including important defense industry enterprises.

Alabuga is one of Russia’s largest special economic zones, generating 59 percent of total revenue and 34 percent of tax revenues from all SEZs.

In addition, as a result of the DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack, the internet networks in Tatarstan and Kazan were blocked, as well as the mobile operator MTS, the largest telecommunications operator, Tattelecom, and the regional telecommunications operator Ufanet.

Users of the networks complained about the lack of access to the internet, the operation of web resources, and mobile applications. Some customers report that they are unable to use mobile applications that control the operation of intercoms in their entrances. Users of the attacked providers also report malfunctions in their internet messengers.

At the same time, Tattelecom’s press service acknowledges the fact of the most powerful cyberattack on its network infrastructure in its history, which has been going on since the morning of May 2.

This is not the first time Ukrainian special services have attacked Tatarstan. Earlier Kyiv Post sources confirmed that a UAV attack on the aircraft factory in Tatarstan, Russia, was a special operation by the HUR.

On April 17, HUR drones attacked the Gorbunov Aviation Plant in Kazan, where Russians manufacture and repair Tu-22M and Tu-160M bombers. The Kyiv Post’s source said that the consequences of the attack are being clarified.

Local media and social media users noted that in the morning before the explosions, an air raid siren went off in the area of the Kazan Aviation Plant. At the same time, the evacuation of personnel from the plant began.