Hacking group Anonymous has issued a chilling warning to Russian president Vladimir Putin - telling him his 'secrets may no longer be safe'. Take a look below:
In the clip, which is directly addressed to Putin, a masked figure says: “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.
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“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.”
The message then goes on to say that Putin has ‘criticised’ the US military and NATO for their occupation and bombings in the Middle East before saying the president is ‘no better than the imperialist governments’ he has spoken out against.
The group say the ‘whole world’ can see through Putin’s propaganda and that even his own citizens are against his 'foolish actions' - the video then cuts to news articles reporting on the protests being held in Russia.
The clip claims Putin will start to experience more unrest in his country, as the sanctions being placed on Russia by other countries will 'hurt' its citizens.
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The group also threatened ‘unprecedented cyber attacks from all corners of the world’.
The message continues: “Members of Anonymous have declared cyber war against your aggressive regime, with numerous government websites being taken offline in the past several days.
“A few downed websites is only the beginning, though. Soon you will feel the full wrath of the world’s hackers, many of whom will likely reside from your home country.
“Your secrets may no longer be safe and there is a chance that key components of your government’s infrastructure could be hijacked.”
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The message ends: “The people of the world will resist you every step of the way. This is not a war that you can win, regardless of how powerful you think you are. We are Anonymous. We are legion. Expect us.”
Anonymous announced that they had declared a 'cyber war' on Russia just hours after troops invaded Ukraine on 24 February
In a post on Twitter, the group said: "The Anonymous collective is officially in cyber war against the Russian government."
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information.
Topics: Russia, Vladimir Putin, Technology, Ukraine
Claire Reid