Anonymous Claims It's Taken Out Russia's National Security Agency

Anonymous has claimed it’s taken out Russia’s national security agency as part of its ongoing efforts against Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine. 

In a tweet shared today (15 March), the hacking group wrote: “Russian sites under attack [Tango Down],” the latter statement relating to military slang meaning an enemy has been defeated in combat. 

Among the sites Anonymous claims to have taken down are Moscow.ru, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Analytical Centre for the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation.

FSB is the principal security agency within the country and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB.

Dozens of people praised Anonymous in the comments section for its latest announcement, which joins a number of actions the hack group has taken as part of its own war against Putin.

While many people support the resistance, one thing Anonymous weren’t too impressed with was Elon Musk’s recent offer to fight Putin. 

The billionaire, 50, challenged the 69-year-old to a fight, one on one, with the fate of Ukraine in the balance.

He said: "I hereby challenge Владимир Путин [Vladimir Putin] to single combat,” adding: “Stakes are Україна [Ukraine]."

However, the hacking group called out Musk for the stunt, describing it as a cynical attempt to garner some attention.

Retweeting Musk, the group said: "Elon has no authority regarding the legal status of statehood and sovereignty of Ukraine.

"People are suffering, innocents are being killed, cities are being bombed, women and children are dying: Elon pushes publicity stunt. Shame on you."

This comes after Anonymous launched a cyber offensive against Putin over his ordering of Russian troops to cross the border last month.

Anonymous released a chilling warning to Putin, telling him his 'secrets may no longer be safe'.

In the clip, which is directly addressed to Putin, a masked figure said: "Mr Putin, the ongoing invasion of Ukraine has shown that your regime has no respect for human rights or the self determination of your neighbours. 

"In the past several days a full scale invasion has commenced, civilian neighbourhoods have been bombed and innocent people have been killed.

"Refugees are fleeing the violence and the population is being forced into conscription by Ukrainian officials. 

"This is an ugly situation all around but you are the instigator."

And just last week, the group said it had hacked Russian TV news channels and streaming services to broadcast footage of the war in Ukraine.

The group said it was involved in the ‘biggest Anonymous op ever seen’ after hacking into various Russian news channels including Moscow 24 and Russia 24, as well as streaming sites to share footage of the war. 

Sharing footage on Twitter, the collective wrote: "The hacking collective #Anonymous hacked into the Russian streaming services Wink and Ivi (like Netflix) and live TV channels Russia 24, Channel One, Moscow 24 to broadcast war footage from Ukraine [today]."

At the end of the clip, a message urged Russians to oppose the invasion – stating that 'ordinary Russians are against the war'.

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