Massive cyberattack hits electronic voting in Moscow during State Duma elections

Russian authorities say the electronic voting system in Moscow came under an unprecedented cyberattack during the State Duma elections. The announcement was made by Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia's Central Election Commission.

"The Moscow system was under continuous, very intense attack all night," Pamfilova said, adding that hacking attempts were still ongoing and were unusual in scale. According to her, specialists have managed to repel the attacks, and electronic voting in the capital is proceeding normally.

The head of the Central Election Commission also warned citizens about fake AI-generated videos circulating online. As an example, she showed deepfakes depicting rapper Kanye West, an alien, and an elderly woman with a hippopotamus, all supposedly casting ballots at polling stations. Such videos were described as dangerous and posing a real threat.

Attacks intensified

Already on Friday, Olga Kirillova, head of the Moscow City Election Commission, said that "an army of IT specialists is continuously repelling attacks on the electronic voting system, and these attacks have become more serious than before."

Aside from the cyberattacks, Russian media reported several incidents outside the capital. In Krasnodar Krai, one polling station was relocated after its building was damaged in a drone strike. In Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine's Luhansk region, 14 polling stations switched to backup power after power lines were damaged — both incidents occurred on Friday.

On Saturday, a Russian news agency, citing the Ministry of Digital Development, reported an "attempted act of sabotage" in the Far East. Communications in Sakhalin and Magadan regions, Kamchatka Krai, and Chukotka were fully restored, according to the ministry.

Putin votes online

Russian President Vladimir Putin also cast his vote via the internet. According to media reports, he reacted with visible enthusiasm after successfully submitting his ballot.

The State Duma elections — for the lower house of the Russian parliament — are being held from Friday through Sunday. These are the first parliamentary elections in the country since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Voting is also being organized in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz