Russian authorities have reported cyberattacks targeting voting systems and communication lines as the country’s three-day parliamentary election entered its second day on Saturday.
The attacks were reported as Russians continued voting in an election for the 450-seat State Duma, the lower house of parliament. Voting began on Friday and is scheduled to run until Sunday, September 20.
the country Central Election Commission said the online voting system in Moscow was subjected to a strong attack overnight. Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said the attacks were continuing but were being successfully repelled.
“The attacks were continuing, but all were being successfully repelled,” Pamfilova said, according to Russian state media.
Russia’s Digital Ministry separately reported an attempted sabotage of communication lines in the country’s Far East. It said the attempt had been thwarted and communications had been restored, according to state media reports.
President Vladimir Putin had earlier accused Ukraine of attempting to interfere with the election, but provided no evidence to support the allegation. Russian authorities have not publicly established that Ukraine was responsible for the reported cyberattacks.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that there had been no independent confirmation of the attacks. It said Russian officials had provided limited details about the reported incidents while maintaining that the attempted disruptions had been thwarted.
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The election is their first parliamentary vote since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The election is taking place across Russia’s 11 time zones, with voting scheduled to conclude on Sunday.
As of Saturday afternoon, voter turnout had reached 32.58% nationwide, according to figures from their Central Election Commission cited by Reuters.
The reported cyberattacks come as the country holds an election amid continued tensions with Ukraine. Despite the reported attempts to disrupt its systems, Russian authorities said electronic voting remained operational and that the attacks had been repelled.
