“The website of the Russian authorities has crashed. The electoral system has crashed,” intelligence sources in Kiev told the Ukrinform news agency on Saturday. Secret service hackers might have bypassed all security systems. “This will continue now until the end of the vote.”
In addition, attacks were being carried out on the presence of the Kremlin party United Russia, the Ukrainian intelligence official said. The Russian government party, which was once friends with the FPÖ, had previously reported a hacker attack. Accordingly, United Russia’s online presence was paralyzed by a “denial of service” attack. All non-essential services have been suspended.
Putin also cast his vote via computer
The election entered the second of three days of voting on Saturday. It had already started on Friday, which was seen as an attempt by the Kremlin to force its superiors to vote on working days. Electronic voting, which was possible for the first time, was also seen as a gateway for manipulation. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin also cast his vote via computer from his office. There were protests at the polling stations by emptying paint into the ballot boxes in order to invalidate cast ballots.
After almost a quarter of a century in power, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin (71) wants to use the vote to secure a fifth term in office for the next six years. According to the election management, more than 100 million people in the largest country in the world are called upon to cast their votes. Voting takes place across eleven time zones until Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. CET. The opposition is excluded from the election, and the three other approved candidates are politically in line with the Kremlin.
