On the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a newly-formed hacker group, calling themselves CH01, defaced a number of Russian websites, TechCrunch reports.

The group has overtaken the sites' content with a video of a burning Kremlin and a song by the 1980s Russian rock band Kino.

Additionally, the video contains a QR code that leads to a Telegram channel where the hackers declared responsibility for the attacks. The group also started a Twitter account and recently posted a video on the social media app.

Hackers Were Politically Motivated

The message from CH01 stated that the defacements were politically motivated and that they declared cyber war on dictatorship, totalitarianism, and Putin's criminal regime.

They claimed acting "in solidarity with the entire civilized world to restore justice" and ensure the "triumph of the forces of light and goodness."

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TechCrunch says that a source gave them a list of 32 hacked websites, including a bakery, a farm product distribution company, a restaurant, a recording studio, a delivery services company, a mechanical engineering and agriculture components company, and even a brickmaker.

How many sites were impacted or how the hackers gained access to them remains unclear.

Hacktivists Engage in Cyber War

Time and time again, websites have been hacked to display propaganda or make political statements, and this practice has increased in frequency since the conflict in Ukraine started.

Anonymous, an international hacktivist organization, claimed in March 2022 that it had remotely activated a number of printers in Russia that were relaying anti-war messages. Throughout the year, Anonymous launched cyberattacks against various Russian TV stations, media organizations, and government agencies.

In the meantime, approximately 310,000 volunteers have signed up to join the "IT Army of Ukraine," which operates through a Telegram account. Using DDOS attacks or denial of service, it and Anonymous have effortlessly disabled several Russian websites.

Even the Russian government has been found to be involved in breaches of online sites. Also, in May 2022, Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized the Russian government for "malicious cyber activity against Ukraine," including "website defacements."

Recent defacements of Russian websites by the CH01 hacking group reflect the ongoing tensions and conflicts between Russia and Ukraine.

Defacement of websites as a means of making a political statement is not a novel tactic, but it remains an effective method for those desperate to convey their message.

The War in Ukraine

A year after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started, civilians continued to be affected by the conflict as Moscow's forces struck targets across the country.

According to CNN, President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared 2023 the year of Ukraine's victory and called on the military to determine the country's fate.

The ongoing conflict has resulted in the deaths and displacement of thousands of people, and the international community continues to call for a peaceful resolution.

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