Russian Hackers Hack Ukrainian, Latvian Channels to Broadcast Moscow Victory Day Parade

Russian hackers hacked the satellite broadcasts of the StarLight Media and Inter channels, two major Ukrainian television networks, and broadcast the Victory Day parade in Moscow.

Videos of the broadcasts in Ukraine’s Odesa region could be seen circulating on Telegram, with one Telegram channel saying: “All channels are now showing a parade of killers.”

The National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting confirmed the incident and said the providers switched to a different broadcasting protocol in response.

Russian state media TASS also reported at 10:47 a.m. that the Victory Parade in Moscow was broadcast on cable television in the Odesa region in its Victory Day live update.

Balticom, a Latvian television network, was also hacked and broadcast the parade in Moscow, reported Ivars Abolins, Latvia’s chairman of the National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP), on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Meanwhile, Russian sources also reported that the internet broadcasts of local networks in multiple regions – including occupied Crimea – were hacked, with footage of the war in Ukraine and pro-Ukrainian messages being broadcast instead of the parade in some instances. Authorities said service had been turned off for some users.

According to one Russian news outlet, footage depicting the gritty reality of war was shown in the hacked broadcasts.

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According to the telegram channel ‘Caution, News,’ the broadcast of the parade for residents of the Omsk and Irkutsk regions, as well as Bashkortostan, was interrupted by the video.

“It showed destroyed cities, brutal images of bodies being torn apart by grenades, footage of the ‘Russian March’ and photographs of former prisoners who participated in Russian military operations in Ukraine,” read the Telegram update.

Investigations are ongoing, and it’s not immediately clear what groups were behind the hack.