A Russian state TV channel was hacked, and millions of viewers across the country were warned of an imminent “hour of reckoning,” RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to the Sun, cyber forces were able to gain access to the network during the primetime slot and broadcast the message through various broadcasters throughout Russia.
The video, allegedly made by Ukraine’s defense ministry, featured footage of the country’s military advancements before abruptly cutting to an on-screen warning that said, “The hour of reckoning has come.”
Following the ominous warning, a video of ballerinas from Swan Lake began to play across the broadcast. The same ballet was reportedly played on loop decades ago after the death of a top general in the Soviet Union, before its collapse in 1991.
On the same day as the network hack, six staff members from Vladimir Putin’s main TV propaganda outlet were evacuated due to a poisoning scare.
An envelope was opened, allegedly containing a white powdery substance, leading to those who came into contact with the substance to be promptly escorted outside and placed in an ambulance.
The powder was reportedly analyzed in a nearby laboratory as authorities continued investigating the incident.
This isn’t the first time Russia suffered a cyber-attack in recent months.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, television screens across Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen, Kursk and Kaliningrad showed an “emergency” broadcast from a “deepfake” Putin.
The fake TV tyrant appeared to impose martial law across the various regions while declaring a full-scale mass mobilization in response to a supposed “incursion” from Ukrainian forces.
The deepfaked Putin said: “Fellow citizens, brothers and sisters. At 4 am today, Ukrainian troops, armed to the teeth by the Nato bloc, with approval and support from Washington, have entered the territories of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions.”
“Our border guards and armed forces are fighting back the superior troops of the aggressor,” it continued. “The enemy will be destroyed. The victory will be ours.”
Since the hacking, Russian officials vowed to take action o prevent that kind of broadcasting from happening again.