Ukrainian Radio Stations Hacked to Broadcast Fake News About Zelenskyy’s Health

Ukrainian radio operator TAVR Media on Thursday became the
latest victim of a cyberattack, resulting in the broadcast of a
fake message that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was seriously
ill.

“Cybercriminals spread information that the President of
Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is allegedly in intensive care, and
his duties are performed by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada,
Ruslan Stefanchuk,” the State Service of Special Communications and
Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) said^[1]
in an update.

The radio holding company oversees nine major radio stations,
including Hit FM, Radio ROKS, KISS FM, Radio RELAX, Melody FM,
Nashe Radio, Radio JAZZ, Classic Radio, and Radio Bayraktar.

In a separate post on Facebook, TAVR Media disclosed^[2]
its servers and networks were targeted in a cyberattack and it’s
working to resolve the issue. The company also emphasized that “no
information about the health problems of the President of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is true.”

The false reports, which were broadcasted^[3]
between 12 and 2 p.m., also prompted Zelenskyy to take to
Instagram, stating^[4], “I have never felt as
healthy as I do now.”

The provenance of the intrusion remains unknown as yet, although
several threat actors have capitalized on the ongoing conflict
between Russia and Ukraine to carry out a barrage^[5]
of cyberattacks^[6], with hacking groups
taking sides.

In a related development, the Computer Emergency Response Team
of Ukraine (CERT-UA) also warned^[7] of macro-laden
PowerPoint documents being used to deploy Agent Tesla malware^[8]
targeting state organizations of the country.